PARTICLE PROPERTIES OF WAVES

Course Outline...

Quantum Mechanics: (i) Particle properties of waves:

Black body radiation, photoelectric effect, x-ray
Diffraction and Compton effect, pair production, photon
and gravity.

References:
A. Beiser, Concept of Modern Physics (or Perspective of Modern
Physics), Tata-McGraw Hill, 2005
 ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

4.3 x 1014 7.5 x 1014

Particle aspect of radiation

Classical physics: a particle : energy E and momentum p
Wave : an amplitude and wave vector k
 General Consensus:
Particle: e.g e-: charge, mass : laws of particle mechanics
Waves: em waves: diffraction, interference, polarization etc

Principle of superposition

A characteristic properties of all waves

 Youngs experiment: Light consists of waves
Classical approach
Black Body Radiation
Only the quantum theory of
light can explain its origin
Black Body

An ideal blackbody, is a material object that absorbs all of the radiation

falling on it, and hence its appears as black under reflection when
illuminated from outside.

When an object is heated , it radiates electromagnetic energy as a result of the

thermal agitation of the electrons in its surface

Blackbody radiation: radiation leaving the hole of a heated hollow cavity or

the radiation emitted by a blackbody when hot.
 Rayleigh & Jeans
Radiation inside a cavity:
series of standing waves.

Density of standing
waves in cavity:

8 2 d
G ( )d
c2
Classical average energy
per standing wave:
EXPERIMENTAL
kT

Rayleigh-Jeans formula: u ( )d G ( )d 8kT

2
2
d
c
Rayleighs assumption: a standing wave can exchange any
amount(continum) of energy with matter,

Classical: continuous energy distribution

Consequences:
Ultraviolet catastrophe
As increases toward the ultraviolet end of the spectrum, the energy density
should increase as 2. In the limit of infinitely high , u()d should also go to .
In really, of course, the energy density falls to 0 as . This discrepancy called
ultraviolet catastrophe.
Classical physics failure introduction of Q.M.
Plancks formula
The energy exchange between radiation and matter must be
discrete and energy of radiation E = nh
h
Average energy per standing wave
e h / kT 1
Plancks modifications
8h 3 d
u ( )d 2 h / kT 1
c e
h = 6.626 x 10-34 J.s
Max Planck (1918 Nobel prize)
 At low SUMMARY At high
h << kT h >> kT
1

1 e h / kT
e h / kT 11 h / kT 1 u ( ) d 0
kT / h

8h 3 kT
u ( )d 2 d
c h
8kT 2
3
d # of modes per Probability of Average
c unit frequency occupying modes energy per
Rayleigh & Jeans per unit volume mode

CLASSICAL 8 2 kT
Equal for all modes
c3
Quantized modes:
8 2
require h energy to
h
QUANTUM h
c3 excite upper modes,
e kT
1
less probable
Particle properties of waves:

[1] Photoelectric effect

[2] Compton effect
[3] Pair production
 Photoelectric effect
Provides a direct confirmation for
the energy quantization of light.
The phenomenon of ejection of electron from the surface of a metal when light
of a suitable frequency strikes on It, is called photoelectric effect. The emitted
electrons are called photo-electrons.

V0

The time between the incidence and emission of a photoelectron is

very small, 109 s.
 The following experimental laws were discovered:
If the frequency of the incident radiation is smaller than the
metals threshold frequency(a frequency that depends on the
properties of metal), no electron can be emitted regardless of
the radiations intensity.

No matter how low the intensity of the incident radiation,

electrons will be ejected instantly the moment the frequency of
the radiation exceeds the threshold frequency.

At a fixed frequency, the number of ejected electrons increases

with the intensity of the light but doesnt depend on its frequency.

The kinetic energy of the ejected electrons depends on the

frequency but not on the intensity of the beam; the kinetic energy
of the ejected electron increases linearly with the incident
frequency.
 Einstein interpretation(1905)
Light comes in packets of energy (photons)
E = h
An electron absorbs a single photon to leave the material
K
Work function: W = h0
Larger W needs more energy
needed for an electron to leave

Classical physics fails: for dependence of the 0
effect on the threshold frequency 0 = threshold frequency
E = h 0 E = h
Photoelectric effect:
K = h - W = h - h0
KEmax
The stopping potential : at which all = h - h 0
of the electrons will be turned back
before reaching the collector KE = 0
h W hc W
VS metal
e e e e
 Photons transfer energy to electron: photoelectric effect
Can reverse be true?
EM radiation with 0.01
X-rays to 10 nm x-rays

16
1.24 10
X-ray production: min V.m
V
 X-ray diffraction
Crystal structure
determination

Incident
wave

2d sin = Path
2
d difference

d sin

Braggs Law:
2d sin = n
 Further confirmation
Compton effect of photon model
1927 Nobel
E h h
E m0 c 2 p h / c h
c sin
Incident photon h
p0
- c
cos c

E h p sin
Target
p h / c electron p p cos
- E m c p c
2
0
4 2 2

p p
Scattered
electron

Scattering of x-rays from electrons in a carbon target and found scattered x-rays
with a longer wavelength than those incident upon the target.

In the original photon direction:

Initial momentum = final momentum
h h
0 cos p cos
c c
h
in the perpendicular direction: 0 sin p sin
c
 pc cos h h cos
pc sin h sin
p 2c 2 (h ) 2 2(h )( h ) cos (h ) 2
Form the total energy expression we have:

p 2 c 2 (h ) 2 2(h )( h ) (h ) 2 2m0 c 2 (h h )

2m
0 c 2
(h h ) 2(h )( h )(1 cos )
Compton effect or shift: Angle of recoil electron:
sin
tan

h
(1 cos ) / cos
m0 c
Compton wavelength:
h
C
m0 c

gives the scale of the wave length

change of the incident photon
Experimental Demonstration

A.H. Compton, Phys. Rev. 22 409

(1923)
 Pair production
p
- Electron
p cos
Photon
h / c p cos
p

Nucleus + Positron

Electromagnetic energy is converted into matter

Energy and linear momentum could not both be conserved if pair
production were to occur in empty space, so it does not occur there
Pair production requires a photon e- or e+
energy of at least 1.02 MeV. m0c2 = 0.51 MeV (rest mass energy),
additional photon energy becomes K.E of e- and e+.

The pair production : direct consequences of the Einstein mass-energy relation; E = mc2.

Pair annihilation: e- + e + +
Ex-1
Calculate the minimum energy of a photon so that it converts into
an electron-positron pair. Find the photons frequency and
wavelength

Ans:
The Emin of a photon to produce e- and e+ pair is equal to sum of
rest mass energy of both. So Emin = 2mec2 = 1.02 MeV.

The photons frequency and wavelength can be obtained at once

from Emin = h = 2mec2 and =c/:

= 2.47 x 1020 Hz and = 1.2 x 10-12 m

 Photon and gravity

E h
KE = 0 Gravitational behaviour of light: follows from
the observation that, although a photon has
no rest mass, it nevertheless interacts with
electrons as though it has the inertial mass
H

p h
h
Photon mass m 2
KE = mgH E h gH h v c
c2

Photon energy after falling through height H

gH
h h 1 2
c

Although they lack rest mass, photons behave as though they have gravitational
mass
 The Wave Nature of Matter
Subatomic particles
De Broglie
Electron beam
Davisson-Germer Experiment
Electron Interference
Matter Waves

PHYS140 Matter Waves 21

 Problem
What is the de Broglie wavelength of a 50 kg person
traveling at 15 m/s?
(h = 6.6 x 10-34 J s) comparable to spacing

PHYS140 Matter Waves 22

 Subatomic Particles
We can see the electron tracks
There is evidence of light as a particle from the
collision of light with the electrons at point P

PHYS140 Matter Waves 23

 De Broglie Hypothesis
Linking momentum and wavelength
Based on the photoelectric effect, de Broglie
surmised that particles should behave by photons
and their wavelength should be related to their
momentum
h
p

h

p
PHYS140 Matter Waves 24
 The electric beam
To create a beam of electrons for a double slit
experiment, the electrons must have the same
wavelength
To have the same wavelength, the electrons must
have the same momentum or equivalently, energy

1 2 p2
K mv p 2Km
2 2m
h h hc

p 2Km 2Kmc 2
PHYS140
Matter Waves 25
 Davisson-Germer Experiment
By accident, Davisson and Germer found that
electrons were diffracted by large nickel crystals,
similar to diffraction of light by crystals

PHYS140 Matter Waves 26

 Matter Waves
Like photons and electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms,
and even molecules have wave properties
hc

2Kmc 2
Electrons have lowest mass
As mass increases, wavelength decreases
For macroscopic molecules, the wavelength is smaller

than any known particles.
its impossible to make the slit separation small
enough
The screen must be placed much to far away to
resolve the interference pattern
PHYS140 Matter Waves 27