Challenges to the Bohr Wave Particle Complementarity Principle

TL;DR

This paper discusses experimental challenges to the Bohr wave-particle complementarity principle, highlighting how entangled particles can reveal which slit a particle passes through without destroying interference, thus questioning foundational quantum concepts.

Contribution

It reviews experimental attempts and successes in violating the complementarity principle using entangled particles, challenging the traditional probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Findings

Entangled particles can determine the slit without destroying interference.

Experimental violations of complementarity have been achieved since 2012.

Results support alternative interpretations like the Bohm pilot wave theory.

Abstract

Contrary to the Bohr complementarity principle, in 1995 Rabinowitz proposed that by using entangled particles from the source it would be possible to determine which slit a particle goes through while still preserving the interference pattern in the Young two slit experiment. In 2000, Kim et al used spontaneous parametric down conversion to prepare entangled photons as their source, and almost achieved this. In 2012, Menzel et al. experimentally succeeded in doing this. When the source emits entangled particle pairs, the traversed slit is inferred from measurement of the entangled particle location by using triangulation. The violation of complementarity breaches the prevailing probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics, and benefits the Bohm pilot wave theory.