Waves, properties

Altliough a complete treatment of optical phenomena generally requires a full quantum mechanical description of tire light field, many of tire devices of interest tliroughout optoelectronics can be described using tire wave properties of tire optical field. Several excellent treatments on tire quantum mechanical tlieory of tire electromagnetic field are listed in [9]. 

Thus, for electromagnetic radiation of frequency, V, the wavelength in vacuum is longer than in other media. Another unit used to describe the wave properties of electromagnetic radiation is the wavenumber, V, which is the reciprocal of wavelength... 

Two additional wave properties are power, P, and intensity, I, which give the flux of energy from a source of electromagnetic radiation. 

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. 

In this chapter we define what is meant by a shock-wave equation of state, and how it is related to other types of equations of state. We also discuss the properties of shock-compressed matter on a microscopic scale, as well as discuss how shock-wave properties are measured. Shock data for standard materials are presented. The effects of phase changes are discussed, the measurements of shock temperatures, and sound velocities of shock materials are also described. We also describe the application of shock-compression data for porous media. 

Other quantum simulations involve simulations with effective Hamiltonians [261-263] or the simulation of ground state wave properties by Green s function Monte Carlo or diffusion Monte Carlo for reviews and further references on these methods see Refs. 162, 264-268. 

In the earliest applications of numerical methods for the computation of blast waves, the burst of a pressurized sphere was computed. As the sphere s diameter is reduced and its initial pressure increased, the problem more closely approaches a point-source explosion problem. Brode (1955,1959) used the Lagrangean artificial-viscosity approach, which was the state of the art of that time. He analyzed blasts produced by both aforementioned sources. The decaying blast wave was simulated, and blast wave properties were registered as a function of distance. The code reproduced experimentally observed phenomena, such as overexpansion, subsequent recompression, and the formation of a secondary wave. It was found that the shape of the blast wave at some distance was independent of source properties. 

For these and other purposes, blast-modeling methods are needed in order to quantify the potential explosive power of the fuel present in a particular setting. The potential explosive power of a vapor cloud can be expressed as an equivalent explosive charge whose blast characteristics, that is, the distribution of the blast-wave properties in the environment of the charge, are known. 

Zweiwelligkeit,/. two-wave property, zweiwertig, a. bivalent, divalent. Zweiwertigkeit, /, bivalence. 

In 1926 Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961), an Austrian physicist, made a major contribution to quantum mechanics. He wrote down a rather complex differential equation to express the wave properties of an electron in an atom. This equation can be solved, at least in principle, to find the amplitude (height) of the electron wave at various points in space. The quantity ip (psi) is known as the wave function. Although we will not use the Schrodinger wave equation in any calculations, you should realize that much of our discussion of electronic structure is based on solutions to that equation for the electron in the hydrogen atom. 

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. 

Here, the orbital phase theory sheds new light on the regioselectivities of reactions [29]. This suggests how widely or deeply important the role of the wave property of electrons in molecules is in chemistry. 

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. 

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. 

Absorption and emission spectroscopies provide experimental values for the quantized energies of atomic electrons. The theory of quantum mechanics provides a mathematical explanation that links quantized energies to the wave characteristics of electrons. These wave properties of atomic electrons are described by the Schrddinger equation, a complicated mathematical equation with numerous terms describing the kinetic and potential energies of the atom. 

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... 

Prediction curves or graphs are given for external blast wave properties, and internal blast and gas transient pressures. 

Because of the importance of the dynamic pressure q in drag or wind effects and target tumbling, it is often reported as a blast wave property. In some instances drag specific impulse i, defined as... 

At the shock front in free air, a number of wave properties are interrelated through the Rankine-Hugoniot equations. These three equations are (Reference 5) ... 

This method of presenting the topic of blast damage mechanisms was chosen primarily because it highlights the relationships between blast wave properties and structural response or damage. But, we hope that you now also know that the P-i or isodamage curves for structures can be useful design tools. 

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