Particles wave properties

Basically, Newtonian mechanics worked well for problems involving terrestrial and even celestial bodies, providing rational and quantifiable relationships between mass, velocity, acceleration, and force. However, in the realm of optics and electricity, numerous observations seemed to defy Newtonian laws. Phenomena such as diffraction and interference could only be explained if light had both particle and wave properties. Indeed, particles such as electrons and x-rays appeared to have both discrete energy states and momentum, properties similar to those of light. None of the classical, or Newtonian, laws could account for such behavior, and such inadequacies led scientists to search for new concepts in the consideration of the nature of reahty. 

For example, the measured pressure exerted by an enclosed gas can be thought of as a time-averaged manifestation of the individual molecules random motions. When one considers an individual molecule, however, statistical thermodynamics would propose its random motion or pressure could be quite different from that measured by even the most sensitive gauge which acts to average a distribution of individual molecule pressures. The particulate nature of matter is fundamental to statistical thermodynamics as opposed to classical thermodynamics, which assumes matter is continuous. Further, these elementary particles and their complex substmctures exhibit wave properties even though intra- and interparticle energy transfers are quantized, ie, not continuous. Statistical thermodynamics holds that the impression of continuity of properties, and even the soHdity of matter is an effect of scale. 

The first consistent attempt to unify quantum theory and relativity came after Schrddinger s and Heisenberg s work in 1925 and 1926 produced the rules for the quantum mechanical description of nonrelativistic systems of point particles. Mention should be made of the fact that in these developments de Broglie s hypothesis attributing wave-corpuscular properties to all matter played an important role. Central to this hypothesis are the relations between particle and wave properties E — hv and p = Ilk, which de Broglie advanced on the basis of relativistic dynamics. 

Molecular properties and reactions are controlled by electrons in the molecules. Electrons had been thonght to be particles. Quantum mechanics showed that electrons have properties not only as particles but also as waves. A chemical theory is required to think abont the wave properties of electrons in molecules. These properties are well represented by orbitals, which contain the amplitude and phase characteristics of waves. This volume is a result of our attempt to establish a theory of chemistry in terms of orbitals — A Chemical Orbital Theory. 

We are used to thinking of electrons as particles. As it turns out, electrons display both particle properties and wave properties. The French physicist Louis de Broglie first suggested that electrons display wave-particle duality like that exhibited by photons. De Broglie reasoned from nature s tendency toward symmetry If things that behave like waves (light) have particle characteristics, then things that behave like particles (electrons) should also have wave characteristics. 

Both photons and electrons are particle-waves, but different equations describe their properties. Table 7-1 summarizes the properties of photons and free electrons, and Example shows how to use these equations. 

The de Broglie equation predicts that eveiy particle has wave characteristics. The wave properties of subatomic particles such as electrons and neutrons play important roles in their behavior, but larger particles such as Ping-Pong balls or automobiles do not behave like waves. The reason is the scale of the waves. For all except subatomic particles, the wavelengths involved are so short that we are unable to detect the wave properties. Example illustrates this. 

A particle occupies a particular location, but a wave has no exact position. A wave extends over some region of space. Because of their wave properties, electrons are always spread out rather than located in one particular place. As a result, the position of a moving electron cannot be precisely defined. We describe electrons as delocalized because their waves are spread out rather than pinpointed. 

Wave-like properties cause electrons to be smeared out rather than localized at an exact position. This smeared-out distribution can be described using the notion of electron density Where electrons are most likely to be found, there is high electron density. Low electron density correlates with regions where electrons are least likely to be found. Each electron, rather than being a point charge, is a three-dimensional particle-wave that is distributed over space in... 

The essential features of the particle-wave duality are clearly illustrated by Young s double-slit experiment. In order to explain all of the observations of this experiment, light must be regarded as having both wave-like and particlelike properties. Similar experiments on electrons indicate that they too possess both particle-like and wave-like characteristics. The consideration of the experimental results leads directly to a physical interpretation of Schrodinger s wave function, which is presented in Section 1.8. 

In this section we state the postulates of quantum mechanics in terms of the properties of linear operators. By way of an introduction to quantum theory, the basic principles have already been presented in Chapters 1 and 2. The purpose of that introduction is to provide a rationale for the quantum concepts by showing how the particle-wave duality leads to the postulate of a wave function based on the properties of a wave packet. Although this approach, based in part on historical development, helps to explain why certain quantum concepts were proposed, the basic principles of quantum mechanics cannot be obtained by any process of deduction. They must be stated as postulates to be accepted because the conclusions drawn from them agree with experiment without exception. 

In 1923 de Broglie made the bold suggestion that matter, like light, has a dual nature in that it sometimes behaves like particles and sometimes like waves. He suggested that material (i.e., non-zero-rest mass) particles with a momentum p = mv should have wave properties and a corresponding wavelength given by... 

There is a mind-blowing paradox at the heart of all discussions about light. Light is a form of energy that exhibits both wave-like and particle-like properties. In other words, a photon is simultaneously both a wave and a particle. We can never fully understand this paradox, but will merely say that extremely small particles exhibit a... 

But light is also a particle. Some properties of light cannot be explained by the wave-like nature of light, such as the photoelectric effect and blackbody radiation (see Section 9.4), so we also need to think of light comprising particles, i.e. photons. Each photon has a direction as it travels. A photon moves in a straight line, just like a tennis ball would in the absence of gravity, until it interacts in some way (either it reflects or is absorbed). 

Based on calculations and comparisons two principles of adding spatial-energy criterions depending upon wave properties of P-parameter and systemic character of interactions and charges of particles were substantiated ... 

The concept that matter possesses both particle and wave properties was first postulated by de Broglie in 1925. He introduced the equation A = hlmv, which indicates a mass (m) moving with a certain velocity (v) would have a specific wavelength (A) associated with it. (Note that this v is the velocity not v the frequency.) If the mass is very large (a locomotive), the associated wavelength is insignificant. However, if the mass is very small (an electron), the wavelength is measurable. The denominator may be replaced with the momentum of the particle (p = mv). 

Planck s constant h) immutable number relating particle energy, a corpuscular property, to wavelength, a wave property, in quantum physics pulsar neutron star with a high magnetic field, emitting narrow beams of radiation, rather like a lighthouse... 

Light has both wave-like and particle-like properties. As a wave, it is a combination of oscillating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to each other and to the direction of propagation (Fig. 3.10). The distance between consecutive peaks is the wavelength, A, and the number of complete cycles passing a fixed point in 1 s is the frequency, v. They are inversely proportional through the relationship... 

The de Broglie relationship states that any beam of moving particles will display wave properties according to the formula... 

Alas, this grand synthesis soon became unstuck because waves were discovered to display particle-like properties and particles wave-like properties. 

In order to describe microscopic systems, then, a different mechanics was required. One promising candidate was wave mechanics, since standing waves are also a quantized phenomenon. Interestingly, as first proposed by de Broglie, matter can indeed be shown to have wavelike properties. However, it also has particle-Uke properties, and to properly account for this dichotomy a new mechanics, quanmm mechanics, was developed. This chapter provides an overview of the fundamental features of quantum mechanics, and describes in a formal way the fundamental equations that are used in the construction of computational models. In some sense, this chapter is historical. However, in order to appreciate the differences between modem computational models, and the range over which they may be expected to be applicable, it is important to understand the foundation on which all of them are built. Following this exposition. Chapter 5 overviews the approximations inherent... 

Matter is classically particulate in nature, but it also manifests wave character. The wave property of matter is related to its particle nature by de Broglie s relation A = hip, where A is known as the de Broglie wave length. 

A significant change in the theoretical treatment of atomic structure occurred in 1924 when Louis de Broglie proposed that an electron and other atomic particles simultaneously possess both wave and particle characteristics and that an atomic particle, such as an electron, has a wavelength X = h/p = h/mv. Shortly thereafter, C.J, Davisson and L.H. Germer showed experimentally the validity of this postulate. Dc Broglie s assumption that wave characteristics are inherent in every atomic particle was quickly followed by the development of quantum mechanics, in its most simple form, quantum mechanics introduces the physical laws associated with the wave properties of electromagnetic radiation into the physical description of a system of atomic particles. By means of quantum mechanics a much more satisfactory explanation of atomic structure can be developed. 

The modern point of view is that, for every particle that exists, there is a corresponding field with wave properties. In the development of this viewpoint, the particle aspects of electrons and nuclei were evident at the beginning and the field or wave aspects were found later (this was the development of quantum mechanics). In contrast, the wave aspects of the photon were understood first (this was the classical electromagnetic theory of Maxwell) and its particle aspects only discovered later, From this modern viewpoint, the photon is the particle corresponding to the electromagnetic field. It is a particle with zero rest mass and spin one. 

Einstein started this great development as early as 1905 by an almost unimaginable act of vision, when he concluded that the concept of such an electromagnetic wave does not suffice to explain important properties of light. He drew the revolutionary conclusion that there must exist light-particles, the photons, The particle-wave duality was born, Einstein recognized die fertility of his idea, but lie was never completely satisfied with the conceptual basis of quantum mechanics, The lack of complete causality and the frequent use of probability instead of certainty were always a matter of deep concern for him. 

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