Wave
Interference
Recall that when two or more waves interact, interference patterns
are produced. Light sent through a diffraction grating produces
a characteristic interference pattern. Even if just one photon
at a time is sent through a grating, an interference pattern
still forms. What would happen if a chunk of matter was sent
though a grating? Does matter behave like a wave and produce
interference patterns?
According
to quantum theory, matter can exhibit wave properties.
Sodium
Atom Interference? (3.0K)
David Pritchard of MIT sent a sodium atom through a grating
with slits 100 nm wide. After two feet, the central beam and
the first bright beam were 50 000 nm apart. These
two beams are then made to intersect and the resulting interference
patterns are studied. The suprising thing is that when only
one atom of sodium is sent through Pritchard's apparatus, an
interference pattern is still produced. Trying to visualize
what happens as one atom passes through a grating and then have
the appearance of two individual beams combining in an interference
pattern will lead you into a quantum mechanical quagmire.
The
apparatus is set up to show interference patterns for the wavelength
you found in Problem One. Hypothetically speaking, suppose you
wanted to send yourself through the apparatus, how long would
it take before you observed your interference pattern?
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