single molecule experiments challenge the strict wave-particle dualism of light单分子实验挑战严格的光的波粒二元.pdf

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2010, 11, 304-311; doi:10.3390/ijm OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Molecular Sciences ISSN 1422-0067 /journal/ijms Article Single Molecule Experiments Challenge the Strict Wave-Particle Dualism of Light Karl Otto Greulich Fritz Lipmann Institute Beutenbergstr, 11 D 07745 Jena, Germany; E-Mail: kog@fli-leibniz.de; Tel.: +49-3641-656400; Fax: +49-3641-656410 Received: 3 December 2009; in revised form: 11 January 2010 / Accepted: 12 January 2010 / Published: 21 January 2010 Abstract: Single molecule techniques improve our understanding of the photon and light. If the single photon double slit experiment is performed at the “single photon limit” of a multi-atom light source, faint light pulses with more than one photon hamper the interpretation. Single molecules, quantum dots or defect centres in crystals should be used as light source. “Single photon detectors” do not meet their promise―only “photon number resolving single photon detectors” do so. Particularly, the accumulation time argument, the only safe basis for the postulate of a strictly particle like photon, has so far not yet been verified. Keywords: photon; wave particle dualism; single molecules; double slit experiment 1. Introduction The particle aspect of light appears to be an undisputable fact. However, in the context of the photon, the definition