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Thought-provoking findings
Some particles, such as photons or electrons, can behave both as particles and as waves.
Here comes a question of what exactly makes a photon or an electron act either as a particle
or a wave.
This is what Wheeler's experiment asks: at what point does an object 'decide'?
The results of the Australian scientists' experiment, which were published in the journal Nature
Physics, show that this choice is determined by the way the object is measured, which is in
accordance with what quantum theory predicts.
"It proves that measurement is everything. At the quantum level, reality does not exist if you
are not looking at it," said lead researcher Dr. Andrew Truscott in a press release.
The experiment
The original version of John Wheeler's experiment proposed in 1978 involved light beams
being bounced by mirrors.
However, it was difficult to implement it and get any conclusive results due to the level of
technological progress back then. Now, it became possible to successfully recreate the
experiment by using helium atoms scattered by laser light.
Dr. Andrew Truscott's team forced a hundred of helium atoms into a state of matter called
Bose-Einstein condensate. After this, they ejected all the atoms until there was only one left.
Then, the researchers used a pair of laser beams to create a grating pattern, which would
scatter an atom passing through it just like a solid grating scatters light. Thus, the atom would
either act as a particle and pass through one arm or act as a wave and pass through both
arms.
Thanks to a random number generator, a second grating was then randomly added in order to
recombine the paths. This was done only after the atom had already passed the first grate.
As a result, the addition of the second grating caused interference in the measurement,
showing that the atom had traveled both paths, thus behaving like a wave.
At the same time, when the second grating was not added, there was no interference and the
atom appeared to have traveled only one path.
Video
By Brad Cameron
September 13, 2006
From YouTube Website
https://youtu.be/DfPeprQ7oGc