In the double-slit experiment, when particles such as photons are sent through a barrier with two slits, they exhibit wave-like interference patterns on a screen behind the barrier. This behavior is often explained using the concept of wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics.
According to wave-particle duality, particles like photons can exhibit both wave-like and particle-like behavior. In the double-slit experiment, photons can be thought of as waves that interfere with each other as they pass through the slits, creating an interference pattern on the screen. This is similar to the interference patterns observed when two water waves or two sound waves interact.
However, it's important to note that while the wave-like behavior explains the interference pattern, the detection of individual photons on the screen suggests a particle-like nature as well. Each photon appears as a localized point on the screen, indicating that it behaves like a particle at the moment of detection.
The notion of a "wave in the wake" of a photon is not a conventional interpretation in the context of the double-slit experiment. Instead, the interference pattern arises due to the superposition and subsequent interference of the wavefunctions associated with the photons passing through the two slits. The wavefunction describes the probability distribution of where a particle, such as a photon, is likely to be found.
It's important to note that quantum mechanics provides a mathematical framework to describe and predict the behavior of particles at the quantum level. The wave-particle duality and associated phenomena, such as interference patterns in the double-slit experiment, are well-established and have been extensively tested and confirmed through experiments.