Photons on roundabout route could get caught in action
Proposed twist on double-slit experiment could identify light that weaves in and out
By Andrew Grant
Light sometimes prefers to take the scenic route. Now, a new twist on a classic experiment could trace photons’ wandering ways. In the Sept. 19 Physical Review Letters, researchers propose a version of the double-slit experiment that encourages light to take weaving paths before striking a screen.
It’s no surprise that the double-slit experiment is so popular in physics classrooms. The experiment encapsulates the wonder of quantum mechanics. It also is simple to execute, requiring only a light source, a screen and a plate with two thin parallel slits. Illuminate the slits and a pattern of bright and dark bands shows up on the screen. The striped pattern suggests that light travels in waves that interfere with each other behind the slits.