Quantum droplets tops 16 incredible science photos on the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2019

The pilot-wave theory, first proposed by French physicist Louis de Broglie in 1927 is not something that is easy to wrap your head around. In a very broad sense, it theorises that quantum particles are simultaneously waves and particles, but today is not a day for physics lessons. Instead, it is one for marvelling at the incredible power of photography to capture the scientific world at its best.

And that is what this picture of silicone oil droplets does, picking up the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2019 in the process.

Quantum Droplet © Aleks Labuda — © Aleks Labuda

“These silicone oil droplets are bouncing indefinitely above a vibrating pool of silicone oil at 15 Hz,” said winning photographer and physicist Dr Aleks Labuda, who used a petri dish on top of a loud speaker to capture the wave-particle effects. “The surface waves generated by the droplets are analogous to quantum mechanical waves that guide the dynamics of quantum particles. While the droplets move like quantum particles, they behave like quantum waves.”

If you want to know more about the weird world of quantum physics, we have a couple of excellent articles explaining the weird world of teleportation, tardigrades and entanglement and why we need to rethink quantum physics, but until then, just admire these beautiful award-winning photos from the Royal Society photography competition.