POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.off-topic : Trivial trigonometry : Re: Trivial trigonometry Server Time
9 Oct 2024 00:20:44 EDT (-0400)
  Re: Trivial trigonometry  
From: Darren New
Date: 30 Nov 2009 17:54:06
Message: <4b144d0e$1@news.povray.org>
Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>> babble some nonesense about a "quantum superposition of states" to 
>>> make up for the fact that this explanation makes no sense at all.
>>
>> It's only nonsense if you don't know what it means.
> 
> "And the waves interact to generate these interference patterns."

That's mistaken. There are no waves.

> "OK, so why do I still get the exact same patterns if there's only one 
> photon there?"

Because there are no waves.

> "Um... right, OK... that's because there are these extra versions of the 
> photon, that all exist at the same time.

That's an attempt to explain the interference patterns *assuming* photons 
are waves to start with. But they're not, so it's mistaken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7OEzyEfzgg

Note that "amplitude" is the 2-D complex probability.  It's not that two 
photons get to the same place at the same time and cancel out.  It's that 
the photon just doesn't go there. Hence, no need for multiple photons to 
cancel.

What he's talking about at the end is things like, you know they're not 
waves because you only have two electrons in the innermost shell and you get 
lasers with bosons but not fermions.  I.e., you can't make an electron 
laser, only a photon laser. Hence, electrons aren't waves.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Human nature dictates that toothpaste tubes spend
   much longer being almost empty than almost full.


Post a reply to this message

Copyright 2003-2023 Persistence of Vision Raytracer Pty. Ltd.