Thought experiment of the reality of matter wave

Takeshi Yamaguchi (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

A thought experiment regarding the light-wave diffraction by a matter-wave lattice is proposed. Matter-wave diffraction by an optical-lattice is already a well-established experimental technology, therefore, its symmetrical phenomenon, i.e., light-wave diffraction by a matter-wave lattice, does not seem to be unlikely. If the diffracted light could be observed, it would suggest the presence of the matter-wave itself in this three-dimensional space, whereas the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics that describes the wave-function as merely a mathematical tool representing the probability of a particle. Therefor this should be a good test to verify the reality of the wave-function. Full text

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  1. Art Hobson
    Art Hobson at |

    Comment on “Thought experiment on the reality of matter wave” by Takeshi Yamaguchi. It is a nice paper that, once again, demonstrates an important point: The quantum wave function (“psi”) is a physically real object, not simply an abstract probability distribution. I hope the paper will be published, and that somebody will perform the suggested experiment. Too many physicists still believe that psi is not physically real. Many experiments demonstrate that psi is a real physical field, much as the EM field is physically real, and Yamaguchi’s suggested experiment is especially convincing. My paper, “There are no particles, there are only fields” (Am. J. Phys., Mar. 2013, pp. 211-223) presents many different arguments, all leading to this same conclusion: The universe is made of quantized fields. Schrodinger’s psi is just the non-relativistic expression of such fields for matter. – Art Hobson, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, [email protected].

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