- Letter
Single-particle diffraction with a hydrodynamic pilot-wave model
Phys. Rev. E 111, L033101 – Published 7 March, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.111.L033101
Abstract
A macroscopic hydrodynamic system that couples a particle and a wave has recently renewed interest in the question as to what extent a classical system may reproduce quantum phenomena. Here we investigate single-particle diffraction with a pilot-wave model originally developed to describe the hydrodynamic system. We study single-particle interactions with a barrier and slits of increasing width by focusing on the near field. We find single-particle diffraction arising as wavelike patterns in the particles' position statistics, which we compare to the predictions of quantum mechanics. We provide a mechanism that rationalizes the diffractive behavior in our system.
