Related papers: Are atoms waves or particles?
We describe both quantum particles and classical particles in terms of a classical statistical ensemble, characterized by a probability distribution in phase space. By use of a wave function in phase space both can be treated in the same…
The theory of scattering of atom pairs in a periodic potential is presented for the case of different atoms. When the scattering dynamics is restricted to the lowest Bloch band of the periodic potential, a separation in relative and average…
A possible mathematical model has been proposed for motion of illuminated quantum particles seen by eyes or similar devices mapping the scattered light.
Motion of test particles in the gravitational field associated with an electromagnetic plane wave is investigated. The interaction with the radiation field is modeled by a force term {\it \`a la} Poynting-Robertson entering the equations of…
Basic properties of radiation of the atomic chains excited by a channeled 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…
A rigorous theory of electromagnetic (EM) wave scattering by small perfectly conducting particles is developed. The limiting case when the number of particles tends to infinity is discussed.
The cyclic motion of particles in a periodic potential under the influence of a constant external force is analyzed in an atom optical approach based on Landau-Zener transitions between two resonant states. The resulting complex picture of…
A few years ago, diffraction of atoms by double slits and gratings was achieved for the first time, and standard optical wave-theory provided an excellent description of the experiments. More recently, diffraction of weakly bound molecules…
Typically discussed in the context of optics, caustics are envelopes of classical trajectories (rays) where the density of states diverges, resulting in pronounced observable features such as bright points, curves, and extended networks of…
Light displays particle and wave properties within the bounds of the inequality, K^2+V^2<=1, where K represents particle information and V represents corresponding wave information. Using two laser beams that cross and then diverge from…
The de Broglie - Bohm "pilot-wave" theory replaces the paradoxical wave-particle duality of ordinary quantum theory with a more mundane and literal kind of duality: each individual photon or electron comprises a quantum wave (evolving in…
The relationship between classical and quantum mechanics is explored in an intuitive manner by the exercise of constructing a wave in association with a classical particle. Using special relativity, the time coordinate in the frame of…
The features of the scattering of massive neutral particles propagating in the field of a gravitational plane wave are compared with those characterizing their interaction with an electromagnetic radiation field. The motion is geodesic in…
Quantum mechanics ordinarily describes particles as being pointlike, in the sense that the uncertainty $\Delta x$ can, in principle, be made arbitrarily small. It has been shown that suitable correction terms to the canonical commutation…
The small angle scattering (by a gravitational field) of classical and quantum particles is considered and compared. It is suggested that the differences in small angle scattering of particles with spin 0, 1, 2 are due to the nonzero…
A quantum-mechanical wave function is complex, but all observations are real, expressible through expectation values and transition matrix elements that involve the wave functions. It can be useful to separate at the outset the amplitude…
The quantum object is in general considered as displaying both wave and particle nature. By particle is understood an item localized in a very small volume of the space, and which cannot be simultaneously in two disjoint regions of the…
Is the wave function a physical reality traveling through our apparatus? Is it a real wave, or it is only a mathematical tool for calculating probabilities of results of measurements? Different interpretations of the quantum mechanics (QM)…
Motivated by a revision of the classical equations of electromagnetism that allow for the inclusion of solitary waves in the solution space, the material collected in these notes examines the consequences of adopting the modified model in…
The possibility of a quantum system to exhibit properties that are akin to both the classically held notions of being a particle and a wave, is one of the most intriguing aspects of the quantum description of nature. These aspects have been…