The interference pattern observed in the double-slit experiment can indeed be used to represent the wave nature of light. It is a fundamental demonstration of the wave-like behavior of light and other wave-particle duality phenomena.
The double-slit experiment was initially performed using light, and it exhibited an interference pattern that is characteristic of wave interference. This result strongly supported the wave nature of light. When coherent light, such as laser light, is shone through the double slits, an interference pattern of bright and dark fringes is observed on a screen or detector.
Each individual photon, which is a particle of light, is detected as a discrete point on the screen. However, the pattern emerges over time as more and more photons are detected. The accumulation of many individual detections eventually forms the interference pattern consistent with wave interference.
The important point to note is that the observed interference pattern in the double-slit experiment cannot be explained solely by a particle-like behavior of light. If light were solely composed of particles, one would expect two separate distributions corresponding to each slit, rather than the interference pattern observed.
The interference pattern arises due to the wave-like nature of light, where each photon's probability wave interferes with itself, leading to regions of constructive and destructive interference. This wave interference pattern is a hallmark of wave phenomena.
It is worth mentioning that light also exhibits particle-like properties, as demonstrated by phenomena like the photoelectric effect and Compton scattering. This duality, known as wave-particle duality, is a fundamental aspect of quantum mechanics. The behavior of light depends on the experimental setup and the nature of the observation being made. In the case of the double-slit experiment, the interference pattern primarily illustrates the wave nature of light.