Wave-particle duality in classical mechanics

Abstract

Until recently, wave-particle duality has been thought of as quantum principle without a counterpart in classical physics. This belief was challenged after (i) finding that average dynamics of a classical particle in a strong inhomogeneous oscillating field resembles that of a quantum object and (ii) experimental discovery of "walkers" - macroscopic droplets that bounce on a vertically vibrating bath of the same fluid and can self-propel via interaction with the surface waves they generate. This paper exposes a new family of objects that can display both particle and wave features all together while strictly obeying laws of the Newtonian mechanics. In contrast to the previously known duality examples in classical physics, oscillating field or constant inflow of energy are not required for their existence. These objects behave deterministically provided that all their degrees of freedom are known to an observer. If, however, some degrees of freedom are unknown, an observer can describe such objects only probabilistically and they manifest weird features similar to that of quantum particles. We show new classical counterparts of such quantum phenomena as particle interference, tunneling, above-barrier reflection, trapping on top of a barrier, and spontaneous emission of radiation. In the light of these findings, we hypothesize that quantum mechanics may emerge as approximation from a more profound theory on a deeper level.