Like Superman, light has two identities that are impossible to see at once
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Like Superman, light has two identities that are impossible to see at once
MIT scientists performed the cleanest version ever of the famous double-slit experiment to study how light behaves. They used single atoms as the “slits” in the experiment and sent extremely weak light beams, so that each atom scattered only one photon at a time. They found that the more the atoms learned about a photon’s path (its particle-like properties), the less it exhibited wave behavior. When less was known, the classic wave-like interference pattern appeared more clearly. The team cooled over 10,000 atoms to super cold temperatures, just above absolute zero, so they hardly moved. Then, they used laser beams to arrange these atoms in a crystal-like structure, spaced perfectly apart. They sent a weak light beam through the crystal, hoping to catch single photons bouncing between pairs of atoms, just like light goes through two slits in the classic double-Slit experiment. They captured how light, either a wave or a particle, behaved for a second.
In 1801, scientists shined light through two narrow doors (slits) and expected it to leave two tidy footprints. Instead, they got a zebra-like pattern, dark and bright stripes, just like waves colliding in a pond. “Wait,” said physics, “Is light… rippling?”
The plot quickly moves forward to the quantum age. Whenever we try to sneak backstage and catch Light’s act in the middle, figuring out which door it uses, the pattern vanishes. It suddenly acts like a punctual particle and drops the whole wave routine. Just observing it changes how it behaves. Drama!
In 1927, Einstein suggested that light must leave a tiny trace when it passes through a slit, much like a bird brushing against a branch. Couldn’t we measure that and still see the ripple show? Bohr countered: measuring the trace ruins the dance. It’s like forcing the actor to stick to one role.
Recreating the double-slit experiment proved the wave nature of light explored in time
This quirky performance is part of a high school physics class, where students discover that light, and perhaps everything, is both a particle and a wave. But no one gets to see both at the same time. It’s the universe’s ultimate “pick one” moment.
MIT scientists performed the cleanest version ever of the famous double-slit experiment to study how light behaves. They used single atoms as the “slits” in the experiment and sent extremely weak light beams, so that each atom scattered only one photon at a time.
By adjusting the quantum state of the atoms, they were able to control how much “path information” they could gather about the photon.
They found that the more the atoms learned about a photon’s path (its particle-like properties), the less it exhibited wave behavior. When less was known, the classic wave-like interference pattern appeared more clearly.
Also, they found where Einstein went wrong: whenever an atom is “rustled” by a passing photon, the wave interference is diminished.
The team cooled over 10,000 atoms to super cold temperatures, just above absolute zero, so they hardly moved. Then, they used laser beams to arrange these atoms in a crystal-like structure, spaced perfectly apart.
Each atom acted like a tiny, isolated “gate.” Having 10,000 identical atoms made it easier to detect subtle signals from light.
They sent a weak light beam through the crystal, hoping to catch single photons bouncing between pairs of atoms, just like light goes through two slits in the classic double-slit experiment.
To study light, one photon at a time, researchers repeated their experiment thousands of times and used a highly sensitive detector to capture the scattered photons. They wanted to see if light acted like a wave or a particle, and sometimes, it did both!
Scientists successfully entangled two very different quantum objects
Each of the 10,000 atoms was held in place by laser light. They adjusted how tightly each atom was “held”:
Tighter grip = atom is well-localized → photon likely acts like a wave.
Looser grip = atom is fuzzier → photon more likely to act like a particle.
By tuning the fuzziness of the atoms, they could control the mix of wave-like and particle-like behavior in the photons. Their results perfectly matched quantum theory.
Einstein once imagined a way to detect a photon’s path by using a springy slit, a thin sheet suspended like a trampoline. If a photon passed through, it would jiggle the sheet, revealing its particle nature.
MIT scientists instead used atoms held in place by laser light (similar to Einstein’s idea of springy slits). Then they turned off this laser “spring,” letting atoms float freely for a brief moment.
Within a millionth of a second, they captured how light behaved, either as a wave or a particle.
Even without the springy setup, photons behaved in the same way, proving the “spring” wasn’t essential at all. What mattered was how fuzzy or well-defined the atoms were.
“The springs do not matter… what matters is only the fuzziness of the atoms,” said first author Vitaly Fedoseev.
Journal Reference
Source: https://www.techexplorist.com/superman-light-two-identities-impossible-see-once/100452/