Blissful Brain

The Blissful Brain is published by Gaia Thinking. For more information on how to order your copy, please click here.

Guardian G2: Mind over matter by Andy Darling

"Neuroscientist Shanida Nataraja has proven meditation does more than clear your head, it can put both halves of your brain to work, improving your concentration, memory, and decision-making...". To read more, please click here.

Upcoming talk: Yoga Ananda, Reigate, Surrey on Friday the 4th of June

Shanida Nataraja will be speaking at a seminar on The Blissful Brain on Friday, 04th June 2010 at 19:30 at Yoga Ananda Ltd. 46 Albert Road North, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 9EL. For more information, please click here.

Wave-Particle Duality

One of the most important features of quantum theory is that of wave–particle duality. All matter displays both particle-like and wave-like properties. Take the example of light. Light’s wave-like properties can be seen in the following experiment (see Figure 1 below). A small hole in screen A illuminates two narrow slits in screen B. The light waves passing through these two narrow slits interfere with each other, creating a typical interference pattern of light and dark bands on screen C. The light bands represent where the two light waves have reinforced each other, whereas the dark bands represent where the two light waves have cancelled each other out. These are the same interference patterns that can be seen if two water waves collide with each other: where the waves are synchronised, they reinforce each other and the ripple becomes bigger; where the wave are out of sync, they cancel each other out and the ripple becomes smaller.

Figure 1: Thomas Young’s Two-Slit Experiment

Light’s particle-like properties can be seen when objects are heated in an oven. All objects release electromagnetic radiation i.e. light when they are heated: the higher the temperature (i.e. the higher the energy) of the oven, the higher the frequency of the light emitted. Around 1900, Planck discovered that the energy release was not continuous, as in a wave, but in discrete units, which he termed energy quanta. Einstein later referred to these energy quanta as light particles (or photons).

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