The Central Mystery of Quantum Mechanics

TL;DR

This paper re-examines the double-slit experiment to clarify the core mystery of quantum mechanics, proposing a wave-and-particle interpretation that aligns with von Neumann and recent theories.

Contribution

It introduces a novel interpretation of complementarity, suggesting both wave and particle descriptions are valid simultaneously in the same setup.

Findings

Reinterprets the double-slit experiment to resolve the central mystery.

Proposes a wave-and-particle duality interpretation for quantum phenomena.

Aligns with von Neumann's formulation and recent quantum theories.

Abstract

A critical re-examination of the double-slit experiment and its variants is presented to clarify the nature of what Feynmann called the ``central mystery'' and the ``only mystery'' of quantum mechanics, leading to an interpretation of complementarity in which a `wave {\em and} particle' description rather than a `wave {\em or} particle' description is valid for the {\em same} experimental set up, with the wave culminating in the particle sequentially in time. This interpretation is different from Bohr's but is consistent with the von Neumann formulation as well as some more recent interpretations of quantum mechanics.