Dirac Kirchhoff diffraction theory
Quantum Physics
2013-03-06 v1 Optics
Abstract
Kirchhoff's scalar diffraction theory is applied throughout photon and electron optics. It is based on the stationary electromagnetic or Schr\"odinger wave equation, and is useful in describing interference phenomena for both light and matter waves. Here, Kirchhoff's diffraction theory is derived from the relativistic Dirac equation, thus reformulated to work on Dirac spinors. The parallels with the "classic" scalar theory are highlighted, and a basic interpretation of the result obtained for the Fraunhofer diffraction limit is given. The goal of this paper is to emphasize the similarity between the two equations on the most fundamental level.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1303.0954,
title = {Dirac Kirchhoff diffraction theory},
author = {Ruben Van Boxem and Bart Partoens and Jo Verbeeck},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1303.0954},
year = {2013}
}