The Single Slit Experiment

Having successfully used a particle model of the photon to explain how light travels through both transparent and opaque media, it is time to take on the more mysterious effects in which clear wave patterns are evident.

If light is shone through a narrow single slit onto a wall, it will make a clearly visible pattern of bright and dark areas. The pattern is dependent on the width of the slit and the wavelength of the light used.

A narrow slit will produce a wider pattern. Higher energy light will produce a narrower pattern.

While the first observation makes sense in that a narrower slit would make it increasingly likely that a photon would bounce into the side of the slit as it makes its way through, and hence diffract from its path, the second observation seems to be in contradiction with what we have concluded this far.

If high energy photons are larger than low energy photons, shouldn't the high energy photons diffract more than the low energy photons? Why does blue light diffract less than red light when passed through a slit? Blue light diffracts more than red light through a prism. Shouldn't the same be the case when blue light is shone through a single slit?

The answer to this question is usually based on the assumption that light is a wave phenomenon. However, since we have already come to the conclusion that free space must be full of low energy photons, there is a way in which the observed effect of passing light through a single slit can be explained purely in terms of particles.

If free space is full of low energy photons, and these are evenly distributed throughout, then there will be certain resonant frequencies for these photons as a whole. They will bounce about, but not necessarily quite as randomly as a gas. The probability of encountering a low energy photon may not be equal at every point in space. Some points may be more likely to have a photon than other points, and if these high probability points are evenly distributed, then we have what is called a standing wave.

The way to envision this is to imagine a three dimensional grid with equally spaced points. A two dimensional representation would be a finely crafted cobble stone floor with evenly spaced high points and low points.

When rolling a large ball across the cobble stone floor, we notice that it is less affected by the undulations than a small ball.

Similarly, a large photon is less affected by the standing wave of low energy photons than a small photon.

Furthermore, the grid is made up of low energy photons. They have little momentum and are very easily disturbed. All visible light has much more momentum than the low energy photons.

When visible light moves through the standing wave of low energy photons, it causes a disturbance. The standing wave starts interfering with itself.

In short, space is filled with low energy photons that form a standing wave that can easily be disturbed. Since this concept is derived from Morton Spears' Photon, we can call this standing wave Morton Spears' Quantum Space.

This quantum space acts in three dimensions much like two dimensional standing waves of water.

If a small boat was to move through a narrow passage in an ocean of standing waves, it would be tossed about much more than a large boat going through the same passage.

A disturbance of the standing wave would also affect the small boat more than the big boat.

This is exactly what happens in three dimensions when a photon travels through a slit. The photon does not hit the sides of the slit. It is the disturbed standing wave that does this, and the disturbance affects small photons more than large ones.

The visible pattern of bright and faint light produced by a single slit is not due to the visible photons alone. It is the product of visible photons interacting with a standing wave of low energy photons.