Quantum Foundations - 1

Reference: Knight 38.4-38.7

Unless noted otherwise, all images have been taken from:

Physics for Scientists and Engineers, R.D. Knight, 2nd Ed. Copyright © 2008
Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.
 COPYRIGHT REGULATIONS 1969

Schedule 4

(regulation 4D)

FORM OF NOTICE FOR PARAGRAPH 49 (7A) (c) OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT 1968
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Copyright Regulations 1969

WARNING

This material has been provided to you pursuant to section 49 of the

Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) for the purposes of research or study. The
contents of the material may be subject to copyright protection under the
Act.

Further dealings by you with this material may be a copyright infringement.

To determine whether such a communication would be an infringement, it is
necessary to have regard to the criteria set out in Part 3, Division 3 of the
Act.
 Classical vs Modern Physics

Classical Physics ≈ pre-1900 Physics

™Newtonian Mech., inc. Universal gravitation

™Electromagnetism via Maxwell’s Eqns.

Ælight identified as em wave phenomenon

™Thermodynamics & Classical Statistical Mechanics

+ Rudimentary ideas about atoms

 Crises in physics:
Internal inconsistencies:

™Newtonian Mech. vs Maxwell’s Eqns.

(Newtonian addition of velocities in inertial frames; Maxwell: speed of light is the
same in all frames.ÆEither give up Maxwell’s eqns in all frames or Galilean
velocity addition law. )

ÆResolution: Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (1905)

™Newton’s gravity as “action at a distance” vs. Special

Relativity

ÆResolution: Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity (1916)

Internal inconsistencies (continued):

™New experimental data:

•Electron discovered
•Nucleus discovered
•Thermal radiation from hot bodies
•Photoelectric effect
•Atomic spectra: how do they arise
•X-rays discovered
•Radioactivity discovered

ÆResolution: Quantum Mechanics +

 The Situation Today:
Internal inconsistency: Quantum Mech vs General Relativity
Resolution: Quantum Gravity?
Possible framework: String Theory??

Internal inconsistency: Measurement problem in Quantum

Mechanics…..(e.g. “Schrodinger’s Cat” Paradox)
Resolution: Environmental decoherence + many worlds
interpretation of Quantum Mech.
Cathode rays and the discovery of the electron

J.J.Thomson 1987 – discovered the electron

Thomson measured the properties of nagative particles
emitted form different metals and found that charge/mass
was always the same Æthe electron is a constituent of all
matter.

Millikan 1909 – measured the electron’s charge

 Electrical Conduction in Gases

In the 1820s, Faraday showed that current flows through a

low-pressure gas, creating an electric discharge.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

 Cathode Rays

In the 1850s it was found that a solid object sealed inside a

Faraday tube casts a shadow on the glass wall. This
discovery suggested that the cathode emits rays of some
form that travel in straight lines but are easily blocked by
solid objects. These rays were dubbed cathode rays. We
now know that cathode rays are high speed electrons.
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.
 Thomson & cathode ray tube
Beam of “cathode rays” emitted from -ve charged cathode.
Thomson used crossed E and B fields to study the cathode rays.

The force on an electron in the region of the crossed fields is:

F=e(E-vB)

When there is no deflection: v=E/B

When there is no deflection: v=E/B

1 2
Energy of electron= mv = eV
2
Where:
V is the potential of the cathode
e is the charge of the electron

Hence Æ e
=
( E / B )2

m 2V

The value of e/m was found to be the same for all cathode
materials (i.e. all metals emit the same cathode)

Æ Conclusion: The electron is a constituent of all matter.

 Millikan & the fundamental unit of charge
Millikan studied charged oil-
drops in electric fields.

Can balance the downward

gravitational force on the drops
with an upward electric force:
mdrop g = qdrop E
mdrop g
⇒ qdrop =
E
(Drag (air resistance) also played an
important part in Millikan’s calculations.)

It was found that the drop charges were all integer multiples e:
e = 1.6 ×10 −19 C
−31
Together with Thomson’s e/m values, we find: me = 9.11× 10 kg
Rutherford and the discovery of the nucleus
The discovery of charged particles like electrons emanating
from atoms, and the fact that atoms emitted em radiation,
strongly suggested that atoms were composed of charged
particles. However, atoms were electrically neutral overall
Æ # +ve charges = # -ve charges

Thomson’s Plum Pudding model:

Early model of the atom.

Electrons embedded in a
sphere of positive charge.
 Rutherford and the Discovery of the Nucleus
• In 1909 Geiger and
Marsden (at Rutherford’s
suggestion) set up an
experiment to see if any
alpha particles were
deflected from gold foil at
large angles.

• Not only were alpha

particles deflected at large
angles, but a very few
were reflected almost
straight backward toward
the source!

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

 Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Knight
© 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley

™In PP model, the alpha particles should not be deflected, as

the charge cloud is diffuse.
™Deflection through large angles suggested that atoms contain
a positive core.
Rutherford’s nuclear model of the atom = “Planetary Model”

The atomic nucleus has a diameter of ~ 10-15 m =1 fm

The diameter of the atom is ~ 10-10 m = 1 Å

1 fm

1Å Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Knight

© 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley
 Protons and Neutrons
Soon after Rutherford’s discovery of the nucleus, +ve charge was
recognized to be associated with a subatomic particle Æ proton

Since nearly all the mass of an atom is associated with the

nucleus Æ proton is much more massive than electron

Determination of charge/mass ratio of various atoms suggested

that the nucleus contained something else (in addition to protons).

The neutron was discovered in 1932

Z= Atomic Number = # of protons

N = # of neutrons
A= Mass Number = Z + N

Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Knight

© 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley
 Classical Physics at the Limit
According to Maxwell’s theory, the orbiting electrons in a Rutherford atom
would emit EM radiation and loose energy. The solution to this problem
lies with quantum physics.
 The Electron Volt
– useful unit of energy for atomic/nuclear systems

1 electron volt defined as the kinetic

energy gained by an electron if at
accelerates through a potential
difference of 1 volt.

E =qV
1 electron volt = 1.60 × 10−19 C x 1 volt
1eV = 1.60 × 10−19 Joules

Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Knight

© 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley
 EXAMPLE 38.5 Energy of an electron

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.