Thursday 13 October 2022

Waves As A Measure Of Probability Through Systemic Functional Linguistics

Davies & Gribbin (1992: 202):
It is important to resist the temptation to regard electron waves as waves of some material substance, like sound waves or water waves. The correct interpretation, proposed by Max Born in the 1920s, is that the waves are a measure of probability. One talks of electron waves in the same sense as crime waves. To say that a city suburb is hit by a crime wave means that there is a greater likelihood that a burglary, say, will occur in a particular district. Similarly, the best place to look for an electron is where the electron wave is strongest — there is the greatest probability of finding an electron in that location. But even so, the electron might be somewhere else.


Blogger Comments:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, probability is an assessment of potential, and on this basis, the wave model of the electron is model of the particle as potential. That is, wave-particle duality is a duality of perspectives: potential and instance. The wave is a model of potential instances, and the particle is a model of an instance of that potential.

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