In the 1970s, the American physicist John Archibald Wheeler (1911-2008) metaphorically compared the fundamental indefiniteness of quantum mechanical phenomena with a "great smoky dragon": One can see the tail, that is the source of the particles, and the head, which are the measurement results. But in between the whole body is covered in smoke (Copyright: Xiao-song Ma).
Physicists around Anton Zeilinger have, for the first time, evaluated the almost 100-year long history of quantum delayed-choice experiments - from the theoretical beginnings with Albert Einstein to the latest research works in the present. The extensive study now appeared in the renowned journal "Reviews of Modern Physics". Since the 17th century, science was intrigued by the nature of light. Isaac Newton was certain that it consists of a stream of particles. His contemporary Christiaan Huygens, however, argued that light is a wave. Modern quantum physics says that both were right. Light can be observed both as particles and as waves - depending which characteristic is measured in an experiment, it presents itself more as one or the other.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
