Young's Double-Slit Interference for Quantum Particles

Abstract

For the last 50 years, there has been considerable interest in the possibility of observing the equivalence of a Young's double-slit wave interference at the quantum level for diatomic molecules. For electron-impact ionization of diatomic molecules, indirect evidence for this type of interference has been found by changing the energy (wavelength) of the ejected electron while keeping the incident projectile scattering angle fixed. The present work represents an experimental and theoretical collaboration to better understand the physics of this type of interference. In addition to examining the effect of changing the ejected electron energy for a fixed scattered projectile angle, we have also examined the effect of keeping the ejected electron energy fixed while varying the projectile scattering angle. Model calculations are performed for three different types of possible two-center interference effects, and it is found that the most important one is diffraction of the projectile off two scattering centers.

Department(s)

Physics

Keywords and Phrases

Diatomic molecules; Electron-impact ionization; Model calculations; Quantum particles; Scattering angles; Scattering centers; Two-center interference; Young's double-slit interference; Dissociation; Electron energy levels; Impact ionization; Molecules; Scattering; Projectiles

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1050-2947

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2013 American Physical Society (APS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Apr 2013

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