Light moves like both a particle and a wave, and how we see it depends on our point of view. So says the conventional (if you want to call it that) logic of quantum mechanics. However, scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have managed to catch a photon acting as both a wave and a particle.
The researchers fired a series of laser pulses in opposite directions along ultra-thin nanowires. They then shot a stream of electrons toward the nanowires, enabling them to image the action. Where a photon hit an electron from the laser pulse, it interacted as a particle. Otherwise the light appeared as waves.
In a press release, researcher Fabrizio Carbone says this is one of the first times a process that's a cornerstone of quantum mechanics has been directly imaged. He also noted that it could be used to enable better quantum computing by being able to control the quantum mechanical processes.