wave-particle duality

American  

[wayv-pahr-ti-kuhl-doo-al-i-tee] / ˈweɪvˈpɑr tɪ kəl duˈæl ɪ ti /

noun

1. Physics. in quantum mechanics, the principle that fundamental physical entities such as electrons and photons behave both as waves and as particles.

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wave-particle duality Scientific  

1. The exhibition of both wavelike and particlelike properties by a single entity. For example, electrons undergo diffraction and can interfere with each other as waves, but they also act as pointlike masses and electric charges. The theory of quantum mechanics is a attempt to explain these apparently contradictory properties exhibited by matter.

2. See also complementarity

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wave-particle duality Cultural  

1. In quantum mechanics, the condition that allows every quantum to appear like a wave in some experiments and like an elementary particle in others.

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Example Sentences

You don’t need a master’s in wave-particle duality to enjoy the cosmic playground of coincidence and fate that Kröger has in mind.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2024

And this wave-particle duality can give rise to some weird and sneaky phenomena.

From Science Daily • Dec. 12, 2023

The wave-particle duality reveals the queer, nonbinary nature of quantum mechanics.⁠

From Salon • Apr. 20, 2021

The confusion that this wave-particle duality of light caused in physics was eventually resolved by the introduction of a more complicated theory of waves and particles, now called quantum mechanics.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

One was the so- called wave-particle duality of nature at the infinitesimal scale: experiments sometimes showed light and electrons behaving like particles, and other times as waves.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik