The world's smallest double slit experiment

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To perform the experiment a supersonic jet of hydrogen (source at bottom) is ionized by a beam of x-rays from the Advanced Light Source (not shown). The doubly photoionized molecule blows apart and the protons (red) strike the detector at left while ...
To perform the experiment, a supersonic jet of hydrogen (source at bottom) is ionized by a beam of x-rays from the Advanced Light Source (not shown). The doubly photoionized molecule blows apart, and the protons (red) strike the detector at left while the electrons (blue), trapped in a magnetic field, strike the detector at right. The energy of all the particles and the original orientation of the molecule can be determined from the measured results.

The big world of classical physics mostly seems sensible: waves are waves and particles are particles, and the moon rises whether anyone watches or not. The tiny quantum world is different: particles are waves (and vice versa), and quantum systems remain in a state of multiple possibilities until they are measured -- which amounts to an intrusion by an observer from the big world -- and forced to choose: the exact position or momentum of an electron, say.


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