PIRSA:08080086  ( Flash Presentation , Windows Presentation , Windows Video File , MP3 , PDF) Which Format?

Speaker(s): Richard Epp

Abstract: The de Broglie waves we have been using thus far were assumed to be real functions; we discuss why this is wrong and how to fix the problem.
Learning Outcomes:
• Understanding why there is a serious flaw with using real de Broglie waves, and how using a complex wave (one with both a real and an imaginary part) solves the problem.
• Understanding how the de Broglie wave corresponding to a free particle is like a moving corkscrew, with a magnitude that is uniform across space and constant in time.
• When right- and left-travelling de Broglie waves (“corkscrews”) are added, as happens for a particle in a box, we get a complex standing wave whose magnitude is constant in time.

Date: 16/08/2008 - 2:30 pm

Collection: ISSYP Virtual

URL: http://pirsa.org/08080086/  Share: