________________
31
Jainism : Through Science wave when two slits are open.
The question : "Is an electron a particle or a wave ?" therefore, remains unsolved from the view point of modern physics. We observe that inspite of being in the form of a particle, the members of the microscopic world, can also behave as waves. This fact can provide a basis for the prospective material - particle - wave theory.
Similary, the question whether light is in the form of particles or waves also remains unsolved from the view point of modern physics. Such phenomena as interference, polarisation and diffraction with reference to light can be explained only by means of the wave theory, which hopelessly fails to explain the phenomena of photoelectric effect and intensity of radiation.
Therefore the particle theory and the wave theory of light are both acceptable today.
Regarding this Fritjof Capra makes the following statement in his book named 'The Turning Point':
"A few years later, the quantum theory made it clear that even the sub-atomic particles-the electrons and the protons and the neutrons in nucleus – were nothing like the solid subjects of classical physics.....
... They appear sometimes as particles, sometimes as waves and this dual nature is also exhibited by light, which can take the form of electromagnetic waves or particles. The particles of light were first called 'quanta' by Einstein hence the origin of the term 'quantum theory' and they are now known as photons.
"This dual nature of matter and of light is very strange. It seems impossible to accept that something can be at the same time, a particle - an entity confined to a very small volume - and wave which is spread out over a large region of space." .
"An electron is neither a particle nor a wave. It may show particle-like aspects in some situation and wave-like aspects in others. While it behaves like a particle, it is capable of developing its wave nature at the expense of its particle nature and vice versa, thus undergoing continual transformation from particle to wave