PHY201 Quantum Physics Assignment # 02

Released on: 11-Aug-2017; Due on: 18-Aug-2017

1. The cosmic microwave background radiation distribution has a temperature of 2.7 Kelvin. What

is the peak wavelength of this distribution? Which scientific missions in the world have measured

this spectral distribution?

2. In the photon picture of radiation, show that if beams of radiation of two different wavelengths

are to have the same intensity (W/m2 ), then the number of photons per unit cross-sectional area

per second in the beams are in the same ratio as the wavelengths ?

3. Calculate the Compton wavelength of (i) muon neutrino (rest mass 0.170 MeV/c2 ) (ii) an

electron, (iii) a proton (iv) Na atom ? Which of these will show maximum X-Ray scattering?

What is the maximum wavelength shift in scattering from protons?

4. Find the energy of an X-ray photon which can impart a maximum energy of 50keV to an electron.

5. A photon of frequency is scattered by an electron initially at rest. Verify that the maximum
(2h2 2 /mc2 )
kinetic energy of the recoil electron is KEmax = (1+ 2h2 )
.
mc

6. Plot the scattered wavelength (y-axis) versus the scatter angle (in deg or rad) for X-rays

of 100 keV scattered off an electron. Optional : Plot the same on a polar plot using Ex-

cel/Matlab/Python or a program of your choice.

7. Do you observe Compton effect with visible light? Why? In what way does the Compton

scattering endorse the particle nature of light?

8. If an electron is accelerated across 35kV potential to bombard a Copper target, what is the

wavelength of the maximum energy photon emitted? Does this process produce photons of

single energy or a broad range of energies? Why?

9. A positron collides head on with an electron and both are annihilated. Each particle had a

kinetic energy of 1.00 MeV. Find the wavelength of the resulting photons.

10. Verify that the minimum energy a photon must have to create an electron-positron pair in the

presence of a stationary nucleus of mass M is 2mc2 (1+m/M) where m is the electron rest mass.

11. Can a single photon break up into a pair of two-photons?