Exploring diffraction of wave-driven particles.

Millimetric liquid droplets can bounce on the surface of a vertically vibrating bath of the same liquid. In some regimes, these droplets self-propel on the liquid surface by bouncing on the wave field created by their previous impacts. A series of experiments with these walking droplets have shown quantum-like behaviors. One of the seminal experiments suggested that single-particle diffraction and interference may be obtained when a droplet crosses a single or double aperture between submerged barriers. Later experiments with finer control of experimental parameters yielded different results, thus reopening the question of the extent of the analogy between walking droplets and quantum particles. Here we use the pilot-wave model developed by Oza $et al.$ to describe walking droplets and explore the diffraction of a two-dimensional, wave-piloted particle by one-dimensional barriers. The statistical distribution of deflection angles generally exhibits multiple peaks, the number of which depends on the obstacle geometry.