interference breakdown

Guest · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:57 pm Post subject: interference breakdown

Am a biologist and new to this forum. Please permit me a few basic
questions:

I read that if one would perform the double slit interference
experiment with single wave-particles that have mass, and if
the energy of these wave-particles would be beyond a value
at which they could be jolted out of whack by measurable
(sufficiently shortwave) "which way" measurement photons
and thus no more be able to form an interference pattern, then
no interference pattern would appear even if no measurement
photons where shot at these wave-particles. Instead, what would
appear are two (overlapping) single slit diffraction patterns.
Is this correct?

In the case that this is correct, may I conclude from this that
said single slit diffraction patterns are always supposed to appear
whenever they talk about the disappearance of double slit
interference patterns on this forum (or what else can happen?)?
And in case that this is also correct, is the appearance of those
two single slit diffraction patterns a sudden or a gradual occurrence?
(I suspect it´s sudden)

I have tried to simulate this phenomenon by means of the
quantum physics simulator at
http://phys.educ.ksu.edu/vqm/html/doubleslit/index.html .
Unfortunately, this program did not allow me to put enough juice
into the wave-particles and/or separate the two slits enough to kill
the interference pattern. All that happened was that the interference
fringes got finer and finer. The shortest photon wavelength allowed
by this program is 300nm, and the highest energy allowed for
electrons, protons and neutrons is 300eV. The widest slit separation
allowed for photons is 10,000nm, for electrons 25nm, and for protons
and neutrons 0.5nm. What values would be needed here in order to
kill the interference patterns? And once again: Would this
interference breakdown be a sudden occurrence?

Thanks for your patience and help

Peter

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