Wave-particle duality is a basic concept of quantum physics, first stated by Einstein about light, and developed about material particles by Louis de Broglie. When applied to a single particle, it allows us to illustrate one of the weirdest properties of the quantum world. I will present wave-particle duality based on using a real experiment, based on a single photon source, one of the key devices in the development of quantum technologies.
About the speaker: Alain Aspect is an alumnus of Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (now ENS Paris-Saclay) and Université d’Orsay (now Université Paris-Saclay). An emeritus distinguished scientist at CNRS, he is a professor at Institut d’Optique Graduate School (Université Paris-Saclay), and at Ecole Polytechnique, and author of textbooks and MOOCS on quantum optics.
He is a member of several science academies (France, USA, UK, Austria, Belgium, Italy) and has received many prestigious international prizes.
Alain Aspect research has been devoted to experimental studies of quantum properties of light and ultra-cold atoms, at the root of quantum technologies. More details here.