Name: Obaid Ullah Noor

Roll No: Ms-27222

Defination:
Waveparticle duality is the concept that every elementary
particle may be partly described in terms not only of
particles, but also of waves

Evidence of wave-particle duality

Photoelectric effect
Compton effect
Electron diffraction
Interference of Matter waves
Statements of renowned
scientists
Albert Einstein wrote: "It seems as though we must
use sometimes the one theory and sometimes the
other, while at times we may use either.
Niels Bohr regarded the "duality paradox" as a
fundamental or metaphysical fact of nature. A given
kind of quantum object will exhibit sometimes wave,
sometimes particle, character, in respectively
different physical settings.
PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT

When UV light is shine on a metal plate in a vacuum,it

emits charged particles (Hertz 1887),which were later
shown to be electrons by JJ.Thomson (1899).
Results of Photoelectric effect
Maximum KE of ejected electrons is independent of
intensity, but dependent on f.
For f<f0 (i.e. for frequencies below a cut-off
frequency) no electrons are emitted.
The maximum KE of an emitted electron is then
K.E= hf- W
COMPTON SCATTERING
It is the inelastic scattering of a photon by a charged
particle, usually an electron. It results in a decrease in
energy (increase in wavelength) of the photon (which
may be an X-ray or gamma ray photon), called the
Compton effect.
p

pe
Result: peak in scattered radiation shifts to longer wavelength
than source. Amount depends on (but not on the target
material).
Matter Waves
De Broglie
We have seen that light comes in discrete units (photons) with
particle properties (energy and momentum) that are related to the
wave-like properties of frequency and wavelength.
In 1923 Prince Louis de Broglie postulated that ordinary matter
can have wave-like properties, with the wavelength related to
momentum p in the same way as for light.
Prediction: We should see diffraction and interference of
matter waves.

DeBroglie = h/mv =
h/p
Estimate some de Broglie wavelengths
Wavelength of electron with 50eV kinetic
energy p2 h2 h
K 1.7 1010 m
2me 2me 2 2me K

Wavelength of Nitrogen molecule at room temp.

3kT
K , Mass 28m u
2
h
2.8 1011 m
3MkT

Wavelength of Rubidium(87) atom at 50nK

h
1.2 106 m
3MkT
 ELECTRON DIFFRACTION
The Davisson-Germer experiment (1927)
G.P.
The Davisson-Germer Davisson Thomson
i
experiment: scattering
a beam of electrons
from a Ni crystal.
i
Davisson got the 1937
Nobel prize.

At fixed accelerating
voltage (fixed electron
energy) find a pattern of
sharp reflected beams
from the crystal
DOUBLE-SLIT EXPERIMENT WITH HELIUM ATOMS

Path d sin
difference:
Constructive interference: d sin n
D
Separation between maxima: y y
(proof following) d
Experiment: He atoms at 83K, d
with d=8m and D=64cm
d sin
Measured separation:y 8.2 m
Predicted de Broglie
wavelength: D
3kT
K , Mass 4m u
2
h Predicted separation:y 8.4 0.8 m
1.03 1010 m
3MkT
 DOUBLE-SLIT EXPERIMENT
INTERPRETATION
The flux of particles arriving at the slits can be reduced so that only
one particle arrives at a time. Interference fringes are still observed!
Wave-behaviour can be shown by a single atom.
Each particle goes through both slits at once.
A matter wave can interfere with itself.
Hence matter-waves are distinct from H2O molecules collectively
giving rise to water waves.
Wavelength of matter wave unconnected to any internal size of
particle. Instead it is determined by the momentum.
If we try to find out which slit the particle goes through the
interference pattern vanishes!
We cannot see the wave/particle nature at the same time.
If we know which path the particle takes, we lose the fringes .

The importance of the two-slit experiment has been memorably summarized

by Richard Feynman: a phenomenon which is impossible, absolutely impossible,
to explain in any classical way, and which has in it the heart of quantum mechanics
In reality it contains the only mystery.
Some Applications
Waveparticle duality is exploited in electron
microscopy, where the small wavelengths associated
with the electron can be used to view objects much
smaller than what is visible using visible light.
Similarly, neutron diffraction uses neutrons with a
wavelength of about 0.1nm, the typical spacing of
atoms in a solid, to determine the structure of solids.
Pilot wave associated with electron
REFERENCE
CONCEPTS OF MODERN PHYSICS by
ARTHUR BEISER
THANK YOU