[Physics] Does sound show wave-particle duality

acousticsphononswave-particle-duality

We know that light and electrons both show wave-particle duality. Or in other words we can say that they can be both seen as a wave and a particle. Can a similar theory be applicable for sound? Can sound also be explained as a particle as well as a wave?

Best Answer

The notion you should look up and learn about is the phonon. It is a quasiparticle that arises in the quantum description of acoustics in condensed matter. The description is simplest and clearest in regular lattices of atoms / quantum particles, so it doesn't work so well for sound in a gas. But phonons can be thought of as quantums of sound in solid lattices.

Basically, a lattice is modelled as a system of coupled quantum harmonic oscillators, whose Schrödinger equation is very like a classical model of point masses linked by ideal massless springs. The system has eigenmodes with natural frequencies $\omega_j$, and the energy level of $j^{th}$ eigenmode can change only by integer multiples of $\hbar\,\omega_j$, whilst its ground state has energy $\frac{1}{2}\,\hbar\,\omega_j$. The quantum of this energy change $\hbar\,\omega_j$ corresponds to the phonons of the acoustic eigenmode in question.