Department of Physics

IIT Kanpur, Semester II, 2022-23

PHY114: Quantum Physics Solution # 3

Solution 3.1: de-Broglie wavelength
Since the smallest feature size is 0.1Å, the required de-Broglie wavelength is λ = 0.1Å. So, the required momentum
is p = λh .

(a) For an electron the total relativistic energy

p
E= (pc)2 + (m0 c2 )2 Joule

We have m0 c2 = 0.511 × 106 eV . Therefore,

s 2
hc 1 p
E= −19
+ (0.511 × 106 )2 = (0.124 × 106 )2 + (0.511 × 106 )2 = 0.5258 × 106 eV
λ 1.602 × 10

So, the required energy of the electron is

K = E − m0 c2 = (0.5258 − 0.511) × 106 = 14.8 KeV

(b) For a photon, the required energy is

hc 1
E= = 124 KeV
λ 1.602 × 10−19

(c) Photons with wavelength 0.1Å are the γ-ray photons. So, an electron microscope would be preferred for the above
purpose. This is because the required energy of an electron for the above purpose is much smaller than that of
the γ-ray photons. So, in the actual microscope, a milder shielding would be required for the electrons than for
the γ-ray photons.

Solution 3.2: Young’s double-slit interference with waves

(a) The incident field amplitude at the double-slit plane (z = 0) is of the form E(~ r , t) = Ae−iωt . We are interested
in finding the intensity at the observation point (r~0 , t). The total field E(r~0 , t) at the observation point is equal
to the sum of the fields coming from the two slits. This can be written as

E(r~0 , t) = C0 E(r~1 , t − t1 ) + C0 E(r~2 , t − t2 ).

Here C0 is a constant that appears because only a fraction of the field present at the slits will reach the observation
point. Using the form of the incident field at the double-slit plane, we write the above equation as

E(r~0 , t) = C0 Ae−iω(t−t1 ) + C0 Ae−iω(t−t2 )

R1 R2
Here t1 = and t2 = , where c is the speed of light. Thus, amplitude at the screen can be written as
c c

E(r~0 , t) = C0 Ae−iω(t−R1 /c) + C0 Ae−iω(t−R2 /c)

(b) The expression for the intensity at the screen takes the following form
h i
I(r~0 , t) = |E(r~0 , t)|2 = |C0 A|2 1 + 1 + eiω(R2 −R1 )/c + e−iω(R2 −R1 )/c = 2|C0 A|2 [1 + cos ω(R2 − R1 )/c]

1
 Using x, d and R, as shown in the figure, R2 − R1 can be written as
s  2 s  2
d d
R2 − R1 = R2 + x + − R2 + x −
2 2
" #1/2 " #1/2
(x + d2 )2 (x − d2 )2
=R 1+ −R 1+
R2 R2
" # " #
(x + d2 )2 (x − d2 )2
≈R 1+ −R 1+
2R2 2R2
" #
(x + d2 )2 (x − d2 )2
 
2xd xd
=R − =R =
2R2 2R2 2R2 R

The intensity expression above can now be written as

  
ωxd
I(r~0 , t) = 2|C0 A|2 1 + cos
cR

2πcR λR
The fringe period is therefore equal to = .
ωd d
(c) For R = 1 m, d = 1 mm, and λ = 5000 Å. The fringe period is

λR 5000 × 10−10 × 1
= = 5 × 10−4 m = 0.5 mm.
d 1 × 10−3

(d) We have Imax = 4|C0 A|2 and Imin = 0. Therefore the visibility V = 100%. This implies interference fringes with
maximum contrast.
(e) The amplitude at the screen in this case can be written as

E(r~0 , t) = 2C0 Ae−iω(t−R1 /c) + C0 Ae−iω(t−R2 /c)

The intensity expression is therefore given as

h i
I(r~0 , t) = |E(r~0 , t)|2 = |C0 A|2 4 + 1 + 2eiω(R2 −R1 )/c + 2e−iω(R2 −R1 )/c = |C0 A|2 [5 + 4 cos ω(R2 − R1 )/c]
  
2 ωxd
= |C0 A| 5 + 4 cos
cR

2πcR λR
The fringe period is therefore equal to = .
ωd d
(f ) We have Imax = 9|C0 A|2 and Imin = 1|C0 A|2 . Therefore the visibility V = 0.8 × 100 = 80%. The contrast of the
fringes in this case is only 80% of the maximum contrast.

Solution 3.3: Young’s double-slit interference with particles

r , t) = Ae−iωt , where ω is
(a) The incident matter wave amplitude at the double-slit plane (z = 0) is of the form ψ(~
the angular frequency of matter waves. The total wave amplitude ψ(r~0 , t) at the observation point is equal to
the sum of the waves coming from the two slits. This can be written as

ψ(r~0 , t) = C0 ψ(r~1 , t − t1 ) + C0 ψ(r~2 , t − t2 ).

2
 Here C0 is a constant that appears because only a fraction of the field present at the slits will reach the observation
point. Using the form of the incident field at the double-slit plane, we write the above equation as

ψ(r~0 , t) = C0 Ae−iω(t−t1 ) + C0 Ae−iω(t−t2 )

2R1 2R2
Here t1 = v and t2 = v .
We note that v is the speed of the matter wave and therefore the speed of the wave
E πmv 2
is v/2. The angular frequency is given by ω = 2πν = 2π = . Therefore, the expression can be written as
h h
πmv 2 πmv 2
     
2R1 2R2
ψ(r~0 , t) = C0 A exp −i t− + C0 A exp −i t−
h v h v

xd
(b) Using, R2 − R1 = , we write the probability of detecting a particle at the screen as
R
  
2 2 2πmv xd
P (r~0 , t) = |ψ(r~0 , t)| = 2|C0 A| 1 + cos
h R

hR λR
The fringe period is therefore equal to = , where λ is the de-Broglie wavelength of the matter wave. We
mvd d
have Imax = 4|C0 A|2 and Imin = 0. Therefore the visibility V = 100%. The contrast of the fringes in this case is
the maximum.
h
(c) For R = 3mm, d = 200nm, and v = 106 m/s, we have λ = = 7.2 Å. The fringe period is
mv
λR 7.2 × 10−10 × 3 × 10−3
= = 10.8µm.
d 200 × 10−9

h
(d) For a bullet of mass m = 60 g moving with speed of v = 200 m/s, the de-Broglie wavelength is λ = =
p
6.6 × 10−34
= 5.5 × 10−35 m. For R = 1 m, d = 1 mm, the fringe period is
0.06 × 200
λR 5.5 × 10−35 × 1
= = 5.5 × 10−32 m
d 1 × 10−3

(e) Since the fringe period is very very small, it is impossible to observe the fringes. To be able to see such fringes,
we need bullet-detectors with spatial resolution smaller than 10−32 m. However, any realistic bullet-detector has
the spatial resolution in centimeters (size of the bullet). So, what is detected by these bullet-detectors is intensity
averaged over many fringe periods and therefore a bullet detector never sees the interference pattern.

Solution 3.4: Miscellaneous Conceptual Questions

(a) In a Young’s double-slit experiment with particles (photons, electorns, etc.), individual particles go one-at-a-time
through one of the two slits and over a period of time one observes intensity fringes on a screen placed at some
distance from the double-slit plane. Since the individual particles pass through one-at-a-time, one can ask as
to which slit the individual particles pass through. One can get the answer to this question, for example, by
putting some kind of particle detector on the slits itself. However, if one gains the information as to which
slit the particles go through, one looses the interference on the screen. In fact, the degree to which one knows
the which-slit information (particle behaviour), one looses the interference visibility to precisely the same degree
(wave behaviour). This is Bohr’s complementarity principle.
(b) The main difference between the wave-function ψ(x, t) representing a quantum particle and the function E(x, t)
representing the wave-amplitude of a classical wave is that division of wave-amplitude (as in interference exper-
iments) also implies division of energy but the division of wave-function (again as in interference experiments)
does not imply the division of energy.

3
(c) A photon interferes with itself.