Chapter 6: Resolving the Wave-Particle Duality of Photons and Questioning Quantum Mechanics

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In this video I discuss a simple, intuitive, and consistent model for understanding light that doesn't require wave-particle duality... or particles... or photons. This is a continuation of the goal of this series to unite the worlds of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.

Keep in mind, this is CHAPTER 6. You can see the whole playlist here:
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Here is a breakdown of this Chapter so you can skip around if you need to (it’s a long video):

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:02:12 - What is a Photon, Really?
00:04:11 - How EM Waves Work
00:07:04 - From EM Waves to Light Waves
00:09:25 - Why Does Light Act Like a Particle?
00:13:14 - Light Interactions Require a Complete Sine Wave
00:17:09 - Understanding a Projected Plane
00:22:37 - Light Starts as a Ring!
00:25:37 - Single Photons vs Streams of Light
00:28:54 - Reinterpreting the Photo-Electric Effect
00:34:05 - Reinterpreting Compton Scattering
00:38:32 - Reinterpreting the Double-Slit Experiment
00:47:43 - Facepalming the Time-Slit Experiment
00:49:50 - Untangling Polarization
00:58:53 - Explaining Non-Linear Crystals
01:04:55 - Reviewing Quantum Mechanics and Light
01:12:45 - Debunking Entanglement (for Light)
01:23:29 - Conclusion and Caveats
01:29:04 - Where Do We Go From Here?

"You Don't Have to Take My Word For It!"
@3blue1brown 's excellent breakdown of the mathematical implications and mechanics of light:

@LookingGlassUniverse 's thorough explanation of photon behavior (she gets so close!)

@HuygensOptics - This salty optics engineer isn't having any of your particle talk. All his videos are excellent deep-dives into light experiments and observations:

An great paper showing the "shape" of a photon, but it's the "thicc" version because he includes the magnetic component, by Zhenglong Xu, from Tongxiang, China:

The Photo-Electric Effect

Here is the @TheActionLab video I reference. Keep in mind, he still thinks it's particles!

Compton Scattering

Here is a fairly complete breakdown of Compton Scattering and why it solidified our thinking of light as a particle (it was "mathic") by @PhysicsExplainedVideos

The Double Slit Experiment

If you need an introduction into the craziness that got us here:


Link to Applied Physics Letters publication of double-slit experiment detection test I referred to in the video:

References to stupid science journalism on the "time slit" experiment:



Polarization

The video I reference for polarization is by @MinutePhysics here:


I want to stress that I LOVE Minute Physics and they do great work. I am picking on this video because it is the BEST representation of a bad idea.

However, a more down-to-earth explanation of polarization and polarizers can be found by @ScienceAsylum here:

A written version of this and all my science videos are in the works and will be published at:

While this video will not be published entirely as an official paper, there are a couple in the works with the most likely being an alternative formulation for Compton Scattering.

ONGOING CORRECTION AND CLARIFICATION ROLL:
CORRECTION - At about 19:34 the value for cos^2(45) should just be .5, not .525. Not sure where that came from, but it looks like we imported the wrong version of the edit. It doesn't change anything, but embarassing none-the-less.
CORRECTION - At about 1:28:22 there is a misattribution of the video clip. It is 3blue1brown, not MinutePhysics.
CLARIFICATION - Yes, it is true that not all EM waves are sinewaves, but sinewaves are required for what we consider "light" interactions.
CLARIFICATION - A lot of you caught the "conservation of energy" issue with the non-linear crystal explanation. Rest assured, I got it sorted. It's a BIG rabbit hole, and I will cover it in the follow-up.