In our study visualizing free space after double slit diffraction we noted distinct strands of light radiating from the slits, not waves. Does this counter wave theory? Is there another explanation?
I think at this point in history you can be very sure that a double slit produces the predicted interference pattern. However, because we most often look at the diffraction pattern projected on a flat screen, some people may not appreciate that the diffraction pattern has as much structure in the propagation direction as it does in the transverse dimension. The pattern of peaks can indeed suggest rays coming from the slits. See for example the intensity pattern shown at the top of this web page:
https://www.api.simply.science/images/content/physics/waves_optics/interference_diffraction/Concept_map/InterferenceDiff.html
Thanks for the response. The strands we visualized are discrete, linear beams. They are not gradients or fuzzy marks that you might see with waves and they are easily visible unlike the artist conceptions of wave interference. They can also be focally blocked at the slit or at the screen without effecting the other strands, which wouldn't be consistent with waves. We think this implies particle behavior. Please see our images in our preprint and let us know what you think:
https://www.researchgate.net/deref/https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.21203%2Frs.3.rs-506383%2Fv1
I have scanned you paper, and I feel fairly certain that you are barking up the wrong tree. What you are seeing is still calculable from wave interference. What you are missing is the effect of the scattering. You cannot assume that the only effect of introducing the scatterers is that they allow you to see the diffraction pattern that would be there without them. In scattering the light the particles add new randomly located sources to the net field. However, the strength of the scattered field is proportional to the light that arrives at the scattering particle and the phase is maintained as well, so the diffraction pattern does not entirely wash out. To some degree the scattering spoils the coherence, but a degree of coherence remains in the statistical distribution of the multiple paths. This is analogous to the way a complex and discrete x-ray diffraction pattern becomes rings in powder diffraction.
Also, your assertion that the strands somehow indicate the particle nature of the light lacks mathematical rigor. I think you would find that in detail it would be very hard to explain the observed pattern using any ballistic theory. The ray pattern is actually still only understandable as a coherent wave phenomenon.
Appreciate your point about media interfering and causing effects. However we gave done it in different media of water vapor and clear gelatin and dust and get the same discrete strands. The fringe pattern doesn’t change with or without cloud chamber which should happen if media was interfering. The strands can be seen directly creating the fringe and intervening clear space. If you use a tube you can follow the strands from slit to screen which you wouldnt expect with waves. with waves. It is an easy experiment to perform in any physics lab. If you get a chance you would see how distinct the strands are.
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