Related papers: Are atoms waves or particles?
Lasers with wavelengths of the order of the atomic size are becoming available. We explore the behavior of light-matter interactions in this emergent field by considering the atomic Kapitza-Dirac effect. We derive the diffraction patterns,…
The Kapitza - Dirac effect is the diffraction of a well - collimated particle beam by a standing wave of light. Why is this interesting? Comparing this situation to the introductory physics textbook example of diffraction of a laser beam by…
We state several ideas based on the view-point of particle behaviour of matter to explain wave character of photon and elementary particles. By using Newton's suggestion of light ray, we clarify integrally the behaviour of light ``wave''.…
Simple arguments based on uncertainty principle and Dirac's equation are examined which show that electron behaves either as a point-like charge or as an extended distribution according as high- or low-energy experiments are considered.
The Kapitza-Dirac effect is the diffraction of quantum particles by a standing wave of light. We here report an analogous phenomenon in pilot-wave hydrodynamics, wherein droplets walking across the surface of a vibrating liquid bath are…
Atoms, propagating across a detuned standing laser wave, can be scattered in a chaotic way even in the absence of spontaneous emission and any modulation of the laser field. Spontaneous emission masks the effect in some degree, but the…
Following the spirit of de Broglie and Einstein, we think the concepts of matter and radiation can be unified. We know a particle propagates like a wave; its motion is described by certain wave equations. At this point, it is not clear what…
The dual wave-particle nature of quantum objects is a notoriously unintuitive feature of quantum theories. However, it is often deemed essential, due to quantum objects exhibiting diffraction and interference. We extend the work of…
Wave scattering is considered in a medium in which many small particles are embedded. Equations for the effective field in the medium are derived when the number of particles tends to infinity.
In the early days of quantum mechanics Kapitza and Dirac predicted that matter waves would scatter off the optical intensity grating formed by two counter-propagating light waves [1]. This interaction, driven by the ponderomotive potential…
We investigate the possibility that linear arrays of atoms can guide matter waves, much as fiber optics guide light. We model the atomic line as a quasi-1D array of s wave point scatterers embedded in 2D. Our theoretical study reveals how…
We summarize the theoretical description of wave packets on molecular energy levels. We review the various quantum mechanical effects which can be studied and the models that can be verified on this system. This justifies our claim that the…
Interactions between atoms and light fields are usually described in the electric-dipole approximation. We show that electric-quadrupole terms are important in the Kapitza-Dirac arrangement for light gratings on resonance with a quadrupole…
A new look at the so-called effect of an accelerating matter is presented. It was previously stated that the effect is optical in nature and consists in changing the frequency of the wave passing through a refractive sample moving with…
Basic properties of radiation of the atomic chains excited by a channeling particle are considered. Using a very simple two-dimensional model of a crystal lattice we have shown that the main part of this radiation is generated on the…
Scattering of electromagnetic (EM) waves by one and many small ($ka\ll 1$) impedance particles $D_m$ of an arbitrary shape, embedded in a homogeneous medium, is studied. Analytic formula for the field, scattered by one particle, is derived.…
Coherent scattering of an electron beam by the Kapitza-Dirac effect from a standing laser wave which comprises two frequency components is studied. To this end, the Schr\"odinger equation is solved numerically with a suitable ponderomotive…
We analyze the diffraction of elementary systems as the electron by light gratings when they are described by charge distributions instead of the usual point-like form. The treatment of the problem is based on the introduction, in analogy…
We extend the study of Kapitza-Dirac diffraction to the case of two-particle systems. Due to the exchange effects the shape and visibility of the two-particle detection patterns show important differences for identical and distinguishable…
The Compton effect is commonly cited as a demonstration of the particle feature of light, while the wave nature of matter has been proposed by de Broglie and demonstrated by Davisson and Germer with the Bragg diffraction of electron beams.…