Related papers: Fourier Optics and Time Evolution of De Broglie Wa…
The phenomenon of wave packet diffraction in space and time is described. It consists in a diffraction pattern whose spatial location progresses with time. The pattern is produced by wave packet quantum scattering off an attractive or…
The spreading of quantum mechanical wave packets is studied in two cases. Firstly we look at the time behavior of the packet width of a free particle confined in the observable Universe. Secondly, by imposing the conservation of the time…
An electromagnetic wave-packet propagating in a linear, homogeneous, and isotropic medium changes shape while its envelope travels with different velocities at different points in spacetime. In general, a wave-packet can be described as a…
Long ago appeared a discussion in quantum mechanics of the problem of opening a completely absorbing shutter on which were impinging a stream of particles of definite velocity. The solution of the problem was obtained in a form entirely…
We develop a wavepacket approach to the diffraction of charged particles by a thin material target and we use the de Broglie-Bohm quantum trajectories to study various phenomena in this context. We find the form of the separator, i.e.the…
Refraction at the interface between two materials is fundamental to the interaction of light with photonic devices and to the propagation of light through the atmosphere at large. Underpinning the traditional rules for the refraction of an…
We analytically and numerically study the temporal intensity pattern emerging from the linear or nonlinear evolutions of a single or double phase jump in an optical fiber. The results are interpreted in terms of interferences of the…
Time-reflection occurs when a wave is propagating in a medium undergoing a large and abrupt change in its properties: the original wave splits into a time-refracted wave and a time-reflected wave, each displaying different features. The…
We study the evolution of a wave packet impinging onto a one dimensional potential barrier. The transmission and reflection times discussed in the literature for stationary states do not correspond to the times required for the emergence of…
When propagating through periodically structured media, i. e. photonic crystals, optical waves will be modulated with the periodicity. As a result, the dispersion of waves will no longer behave as in a free space, and so called frequency…
Although diffractive spreading is an unavoidable feature of all wave phenomena, certain waveforms can attain propagation-invariance. A lesser-explored strategy for achieving optical selfsimilar propagation exploits the modification of the…
Asymptotic time evolution of a wave packet describing a non-relativistic particle incident on a potential barrier is considered, using the Wigner phase-space distribution. The distortion of the trasmitted wave packet is determined by two…
We address the phenomenon of diffraction of non-relativistic matter waves on openings in absorbing screens. To this end, we expand the full quantum propagator, connecting two points on the opposite sides of the screen, in terms of the free…
In the recent years, mater-wave interferometry has attracted growing attention due to its unique suitability for high-precision measurements and study of fundamental aspects of quantum theory. Diffraction and interference of matter waves…
The phenomenon of wavepacket diffraction in space and time is investigated numerically and analytically, for a one-dimensional array of equally spaced finite-depth wells. Theoretical predictions for the lattice at long times and at low…
The optical reflection coefficient of a dielectric medium moving uniformly in the plane spanned by its surface is rigorously calculated using classical electrodynamics and special relativity, and expressed in the Fourier domain, as a…
Admitting the validity of Lorentz transformations for the space as time coordinates of the same event we derive their differential form in order to underline the correct prerequisites for the application of time and length contraction or…
Refraction, interference, and diffraction serve as distinguishing features for wave-like phenomena. While they are normally associated only with a purely spatial wave-propagation pattern, analogs to interference and diffraction involving…
A simple formula for the scattering of wave packets from a square well at long times is derived. The expression shows that the phenomenon of wave packet diffraction in space and time exists in three dimensions also. An experiment for the…
Quantum mechanics asserts that a wave packet must inevitably spread as time progresses since the dispersion relation for the quantum waves is assumed to be quadratic in the momentum k. However, this assumption does not consider the standard…