Double Slit Puzzle Explained (?)

Bill strides manfully up the scaffold steps. He grabs the rope, slides it
over his head, positions his feet squarely over the trapdoor, grabs the
hanle and pulls hard...
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The Puzzle



The following is from Wikipedia: "In the double-slit experiment, light is
shone at a solid thin plate that has two slits cut into it. A photographic
plate or some other detection screen is set up to record what comes through
those slits. One or the other slit may be open, or both may be open.



Normally, when only one slit is open, the pattern on the plate is a
diffraction pattern, a fairly narrow central band with dimmer bands parallel
to it on each side. When both slits are open, the pattern displayed becomes
very much more detailed and at least four times as wide."



Wikipedia continues with:



"The most baffling part of this experiment comes when only one photon at a
time is fired at the barrier with both slits open. The pattern of
interference remains the same as can be seen if many photons are emitted one
at a time and recorded on the same *** of photographic film. The clear
implication is that something with a wavelike nature passes simultaneously
through both slits and interferes with itself - even though there is only
one photon present. (The experiment works with electrons, atoms, and even
some molecules too.)"

The clear implication of the above is that light, electrons, atoms and some
molecules are composed of waves, not particles. This has led many
researchers moving in many different directions, with results ranging from
the ridiculous to the divine. But no solid answers seem to have appeared.

The Answer


The answer to this puzzle is, I believe, both straightforward and
non-quantum. In this note, I will deal solely with electrons. I believe that
the insights we may gain will be applicable to all aspects of this little
puzzle.



Since the mechanism for recording these "baffling" events is photographic
plates, and since the plates are sensitive to radiation, let's look at where
that radiation might come from.



The fundamental source for most, if not all radiation is the acceleration of
charges. And acceleration can take many forms. But only one acceleration
mechanism seems applicable to this particular problem. That mechanism is
called "Transition Radiation."



Quoting from Zolatarev and McDonald in "Classical Radiation Processes in the
Weizsacker-Williams Approximation," we read the following brief description:
"As a charged particle crosses, for example, a vacuum/metal boundary, its
interaction with charges in the material results in their acceleration and
hence radiation, commonly called transition radiation."



It should be noted that this radiation is not coherent. Instead, it will be
wideband with spectra determined by the geometry of the slit, the path of
the electron(s) WRT the slit and the energy contained therein. The radiation
is in the Xray range.



The above explanation of Transition Radiation is what is going on at each of
the slits of a double slit experiment. The electron(s) interact with the
material at the boundary of the slit, causing radiation to appear. It is
this radiation that is captured on the photographic plate.



How do we explain the pattern(s)?


Antenna designers have known for a very long time that it is possible to
construct a dipole antenna in two different ways. The first - and by far the
most common -- is as a pair of wires in free space. The second way is to
take a large *** of metal and cut a slot in it. Such a device is called a
slot antenna.



Each slit in the Double Slit experiment is a SLOT ANTENNA. Each antenna is
driven from a wideband EM source (transition radiation) that is activated by
the flow of electrons through the slot.



Each slot is many wavelengths long. Thus, in common with "regular" long
antennas, the resultant radiation pattern -- as captured on the photographic
plate -- contains multiple peaks and nulls.



How do we explain that the patterns remain essentially the same even if only
one of the two slots is subjected to excitation?



Again, antenna designers know (and particle physicists may have forgotten)
that a horizontal slit antenna is the equivalent to a vertically polarized
dipole in free space. Thus, a pair of parallel horizontal slots is the
equivalent of two stacked vertical dipoles. If both slots are excited, then
the result will be the equivalent of two dipoles fed (essentially) in phase.
And THAT means that there will be many more nulls and peaks spread out over
a larger area.



If only one slit is excited, then the other slit will act as a parasitic
antenna element and the combination will have a pattern similar to that of
the two slits driven in phase. And THAT is why the patterns will stronly
resemble each other.



Summary


This short note neither proves nor disproves the wave/particle duality of
the electron. It is entirely possible that an electron may be a particle. Or
it may be some form of wave function.



But it DOES demonstrate, using well-established principles, that there is a
reasonable explanation for the double slit puzzle. And that explanation has
nothing to do with statistics nor with quantum mechanics.


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