MIT mathematicians have recreated a “quantum bomb tester” in a classical droplet test, observing quantum behaviour in bouncing droplets. The experiment, which involves a droplet bouncing through a structure, mimics the quantum bomb tester thought experiment, where a quantum particle can detect a bomb without physically interacting with it. The team found that the droplet’s interaction with its own waves was similar to a photon’s quantum wave-particle behaviour. The study, led by Professor John Bush and former MIT postdoc Valeri Frumkin, could help demystify quantum mechanics and bridge the gap between the observable world and the quantum realm.
Quantum Behavior Observed in Bouncing Droplets by MIT Researchers
In a study that could potentially fill gaps in quantum theory, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recreated a “quantum bomb tester” in a classical droplet test. The team, led by Professor John Bush and former MIT postdoc Valeri Frumkin, found that the interaction of the droplet with its own waves is similar to a photon’s quantum wave-particle behavior.
The Quantum Bomb Tester
The quantum bomb tester is a thought experiment that proposes a quantum particle, such as a photon, could act as a sort of telekinetic bomb detector. The photon could, in theory, sense the presence of a bomb without physically interacting with it. This concept aligns with the equations governing quantum mechanics. However, the exact method by which a particle would accomplish such a bomb-sniffing feat remains a mystery due to a quantum particle’s inherently shifty, in-between, undefinable state.
Bridging the Gap Between Quantum and Classical Realities
The MIT mathematicians aimed to dispel some of the mystery and establish a more concrete picture of quantum mechanics. They recreated an analog of the quantum bomb tester and generated the behavior that the experiment predicts. This was done not in an exotic, microscopic, quantum setting, but in a seemingly mundane, classical, tabletop setup. The team found that the droplet behaves in exactly the same statistical manner that is predicted for the photon. If there were actually a bomb in the setup 50 percent of the time, the droplet, like the photon, would detect it, without physically interacting with it, 25 percent of the time.
The Pilot Wave Theory
The pilot wave theory, presented by physicist Louis de Broglie in 1927, suggests that a particle’s quantum behavior is determined not by an intangible, statistical wave of possible states but by a physical “pilot” wave of its own making, that guides the particle through space. This concept was mostly discounted until 2005, when physicist Yves Couder discovered that de Broglie’s quantum waves could be replicated and studied in a classical, fluid-based experiment.
The Hydrodynamic Pilot-Wave Experiment
For the last 13 years, Bush has worked to refine and extend Couder’s hydrodynamic pilot wave experiments and has successfully used the setup to observe droplets exhibiting emergent, quantum-like behavior, including quantum tunneling, single-particle diffraction, and surreal trajectories. In their new study, Bush and Frumkin set up an analogous experiment to see if this quantum behavior could emerge in classical droplets. They found that 25 percent of the time a droplet bounced through the corridor without the “bomb,” while its pilot waves interacted with the bomb structure in a way that pushed the droplet away from the bomb.
Implications of the Study
The fact that the statistics in both experiments match up suggests that something in the droplet’s classical dynamics may be at the heart of a photon’s otherwise mysterious quantum behavior. The researchers see the study as another bridge between two realities: the observable, classical world and the fuzzier quantum realm. The team believes that these dynamics may also help to explain the mysterious behavior in quantum particles. This research is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation.
“Here we have a classical system that gives the same statistics as arises in the quantum bomb test, which is considered one of the wonders of the quantum world,” says study author John Bush, professor of applied mathematics at MIT. “In fact, we find that the phenomenon is not so wonderful after all. And this is another example of quantum behavior that can be understood from a local realist perspective.”
“It turns out that this hydrodynamic pilot-wave experiment exhibits many features of quantum systems which were previously thought to be impossible to understand from a classical perspective,” Bush says.
“Not only are the statistics the same, but we also know the dynamics, which was a mystery,” Frumkin says. “And the inference is that an analogous dynamics may underly the quantum behavior.”
“This system is the only example we know which is not quantum but shares some strong wave-particles properties,” says theoretical physicist Matthieu Labousse, of ESPCI Paris, who was not involved in the study. “It is very surprising that many examples thought to be peculiar to the quantum world can be reproduced by such a classical system. It enables to understand the barrier between what it is specific to a quantum system and what is not. The latest results of the group at MIT pushes the barrier very far.”
Summary
MIT mathematicians have successfully recreated a “quantum bomb tester” using a classical droplet experiment, demonstrating that a droplet’s interaction with its own waves mirrors a photon’s quantum wave-particle behaviour. This study suggests that the mysterious quantum behaviour of particles may be rooted in classical dynamics, offering a bridge between the observable, classical world and the quantum realm.
- Researchers at MIT have observed quantum behaviour in bouncing droplets, recreating a “quantum bomb tester” in a classical droplet test.
- The experiment proposes that a quantum particle, such as a photon, could detect the presence of a bomb without physically interacting with it.
- The team recreated the quantum bomb tester in an experiment with a study of bouncing droplets, finding that the interaction of the droplet with its own waves is similar to a photon’s quantum wave-particle behaviour.
- The droplet behaves in the same statistical manner that is predicted for the photon in the quantum bomb test, suggesting that something in the droplet’s classical dynamics may be at the heart of a photon’s quantum behaviour.
- The researchers, including study author John Bush, professor of applied mathematics at MIT, and former MIT postdoc Valeri Frumkin, see the study as another bridge between the observable, classical world and the fuzzier quantum realm.
- The research is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation.