Ask Ethan: Do gravitational waves exhibit wave-particle duality?
Everything that’s inherently quantum in the Universe is both a wave and a particle. So, are gravitational waves?
“You asked me how to get out of the finite dimensions when I feel like it. I certainly don’t use logic when I do it. Logic’s the first thing you have to get rid of.” -J.D. Salinger
Now that LIGO has detected their first gravitational wave signal, the part of Einstein’s theory that predicts that the fabric of space itself should have ripples and waves in it has been confirmed. This brings up all sorts of interesting questions, including this one from reader (and Patreon supporter!) Joe Latone, who asks:
“Are gravity waves expected to exhibit wave-particle duality, and if so, have LIGO physicists already conceived of ways to test it, like the double-slit experiment?”
Wave-particle duality is one of the strangest consequences of quantum mechanics we’ve ever uncovered.
It started out simply enough: matter was made of particles, things like atoms and their constituents, and radiation was…
