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Double-Slit Experiment in Time, Not Space

Posted by timothy on from the that-young-guy-did-a-bunch-of-stuff dept.

TheMatt writes "Thomas Young's double-slit experiment is a classic experiment that helped establish the wave-like nature of light. Since then, it has been done with atoms, buckyballs, and biomolecules. It has even been seen in a single molecule, and the single electron version was voted the most beautiful experiment by Physics World readers (covered previously on Slashdot). Now, PhysicsWeb is reporting that Gerhard Paulus and coworkers have conducted the double-slit experiment using a double-slit in time, not space. The "slit" was a crafted femtosecond pulse consisting of one-and-a-half cycles--say, two maxima and one minima--passed through an argon gas. Each maxima has a probability of ionizing an argon atom and producing an electron. The electrons were accelerated to a detector which observed an interference pattern since the detector had no idea which maximum produced the electron."

9 of 535 comments (clear)

  1. Great minds think alike. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Just today at lunch I was saying "Wouldn't it be cool to craft a femtosecond pulse consisting of 1.5 cycles, say 2 maxima and 1 minima, passed through argon gas? We could get electrons which could be accelerated then observe the resulting interference patterns!"

    Well, that didn't fly. The guys got pissed off and yelled "Shut up and watch the stripper!" so I sheepishly went back to my titties and beer.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Great minds think alike. by yeuph · · Score: 5, Funny

      The nobel prize winning physicist, Richard Feynman, was known to work out of a strip club. He'd scribble stacks of equations on their napkins will sitting in a corner looking at the girls. When the stripclub was tried for indecency, he was the club's star witness in proving that a valuable service was being conducted there!

  2. Ah yes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've been trying for years to do the double-slit experiment. Alas, the wife still won't go for it.

    1. Re:Ah yes... by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's a pity because your nanoscale penis is probably about the right size for quantum effects to be significant.

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      Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
  3. The Double-Slit Experiment by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Funny
    Thomas Young's double-slit experiment is a classic experiment that helped establish the wave-like nature of light. Since then, it has been done with atoms, buckyballs, and biomolecules.

    Not to mention flowers, too...

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

  4. Re:Full Text by ac3boy · · Score: 5, Funny

    "In the classic version of the experiment, electrons pass through a mask containing two parallel slits and produce a pattern of bright and dark interference fringes on a screen." Wasn't this called Pong?

  5. Re:Question for /. subscribers by FrostedWheat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't worry, the second time this story is posted you'll have figured it out.

    :-)

  6. Re:Question for /. subscribers by donutello · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will the second story in time interfere with the first one?

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    Mmmm.. Donuts
  7. Oblig. Feynman by Ironclad2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Physics is cool and all, if you're not quite bright enough to make it in Math" "Physics is to math as sex is to masturbation." -R. Feynman