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Can photons diffract

Updated: 9/17/2023
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14y ago

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Yes and no. If you're really talking about just one photon, and say you're going to shoot it a two-slit apparatus and measure where it winds up somewhere beyond the slits, you will only measure one impact position - you won't really see a 'diffraction pattern' because there's only one photon.

In some sense, however, there is a diffraction pattern. The bizarre quantum-mechanical 'photon' is described by a wave function that basically can give us probabilities that the photon will hit any point on your detector. This wave function will go partially through both slits, and the resulting wave function on the other side WILL exhibit an interference pattern (!). This diffraction pattern will show itself if you fire photons singly through the slits, i.e. fire one, wait a bit, and fire another. Even though the photons are spaced so that they aren't directly interfering with each other, they will build up a diffraction pattern on the other side because of the diffraction pattern in each photon's individual wave function.

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Q: Can photons diffract
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