A New Understanding on Wave-Particle Duality: Comparing the Quantum Wave Model with the Copenhagen Interpretation and Other Alternative Models

Explaining wave-particle dualityWave-particle duality is an outstanding problem in quantum mechanicsQuantum mechanics. Niels BohrBohr, N. and his colleagues proposed that the connection between the concepts of “particleParticle” and “matter waveMatter wave” can be through a statistical interpretation. That is, the electronElectron would remain behaving as a classical particleParticle (like a point mass), while the matter waveMatter wave would give the probability of finding the electronElectron at a particular position in space and time. Such a statistical interpretation can be partially justified based on the quantum wave modelQuantum wave model presented in this book. The situation, however, is very different for an electronElectron inside an atomAtoms. We showed that the electronElectron cloud really represents the charge distribution (of the electronElectron) inside the atomAtoms instead of a probability of finding a point-mass-like electronElectron at a particular location. Today, many scientists are still not satisfied with the orthodox Copenhagen interpretationCopenhagen interpretation. Alternative interpretations of quantum mechanicsQuantum mechanics had been proposed, such as the pilot wave theoryPilot wave theory and the many-world interpretationMany-world interpretation. None of these theories, however, can offer a logical basis to fully explain the results of the double-slit experimentDouble-slit experiment. Neither can they provide a physical basis to derive the quantum wave equation for the electronQuantum wave equation of an electron.