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- RE: THE BORSUK-ULAM THEOREM DESCRIBES PARTICLE/WAVE DUALITY IN DOUBLE-SLIT EXPERIMENTS
The Borsuk-Ulam theorem (BUT) is a general topological principle subtending several physical and biological real-world phenomena. The theorem states that, given a continuous function, two antipodal features with matching description lying on a n-dimensional convex manifold (e.g., a three –dimensional sphere termed S2) project to a single feature on a n-1 dimensional manifold (e.g., a two-dimensional Euclidean space termed R2). Here we ask: might the BUT-related mechanism of topological projections and mappings display physical, quantifiable counterparts? The answer is positive, if we take into account double-slit experiments, which demonstrate that light and matter display not just features of both classically defined waves and particles, but also the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics. In double-slit experiments, a wave is split into two separate oscillations that later combine into a single one. Changes in path lengths result in phase shifts which produce interference patterns. Despite the wave nature of light causes bright and dark bands on the screen, the light is always found to be absorbed at the screen as individual particles, the interference pattern progressively appearing through the varying density of particle hits on the screen.
A BUT-framed explanation of the double-slit experiment may be drawn. When a plain wave passes through two slits of the proper size, it splits in two different waves that interfere one each other and then reach the...
Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared.