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CHAPTER
27
Waves and/or Particles
Don’t believe for one second that atoms are made up of only
stuff like protons and neutrons. I seem to recall hearing some-
thing about futons and croutons, as well.
—Steve Moris, comedianI began looking for an opportunity to hear a physicist talk about
the stock market. (I vaguely remembered from business school that
the Black-Scholes option model relies on heat transfer equations
from physics.) As if on cue, the next conference I attended included
a presentation by Tonis Vaga—a physicist by training—on “The
Coherent Market Hypothesis.” This highly technical speech fol-
lowed a large, sumptuous dinner and a whole day of other speak-
ers. As a result, several of the inquiring minds around our table
settled in quietly for a long winter’s nap, while others collapsed
audibly onto their dessert plates. My peculiar interest in the sub-
ject kept me alert and perky, like a ferret on a double espresso.
Vaga’s approach is based on a framework from part of physics
that examines phenomena that can exist in different states. For
example, water can take a solid, fluid, or gaseous form. Another
example is the electron, which can exist as a wave or a particle.
One example Vaga used in his presentation was light rays, which
can be emitted randomly (as in light bulbs) or coherently (as in26-29 ware 231 1/19/01, 1:19 PM