Wave-like Correlations versus Path Detection: Another Form of Complementarity

The two main foundational issues of quantum mechanics that have been discussed from since the birth of the theory are, apart from the measurement problem, the wave particle duality and the EPR correlations. We propose an experiment which could throw new light on these features, which have always been object of separate investigations, stressing the existence of a deep connection between them. Wave particle duality is a puzzle that has given rise to all logically possible interpretations: Bohr tried to cast the problem in terms of a complementary relation between a wave-like and a particle-like behaviour; Heisenberg, Born, Pauli and Jordan considered the wave function as a mere mathematical tool for calculating probabilities of observations; de Broglie attributed a simultaneous reality to both waves and particles. In the present paper we propose a new way of considering the problem, firstly by showing the existence of a new property of quantum waves, the production of correlations at a distance in a way surprisingly reminiscent of EPR states, and secondly by stressing how the presence of such wave-like correlations is incompatible with the determination of the path followed by the particles. We believe that our proposed experiment may support a realistic interpretation of the wave-particle duality, since both wave-like and particle-like aspects give rise to different and complementary predictions.