Largest Molecules Yet Behave Like Waves in Quantum Experiment

Largest Molecules Yet Behave Like Waves in Quantum Experiment

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One of the most famous experiments in quantum physics, which first showed how particles can bizarrely behave like waves, has now been carried out on the largest molecules ever.

Researchers have sent molecules containing either 58 or 114 atoms through the so-called “double-slit experiment,” showing that they cause an interference pattern that can only be explained if the particles act like waves of water, rather than tiny marbles. The scientists said it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that such large particles would act this way.