Some Arguments against the Existence of de Broglie Waves

Georges Lochak

J. R. Croca

J. W. G. Wignall

The fact that the phase of de Broglie waves is not invariant under a change of frame described by a Galilean transformation has sometimes been used as an argument against their existence as physically real waves. It is shown, however, that this phase change is an artifact of the Galilean transformation, and does not occur if one uses instead the low-velocity limit of the Lorentz transformation consistently to order (velocity/c)2.

Patrick Marquet

M. Surdin

Harvey R. Brown, Roberto de Andrade Martins

Louis de Broglie’s original theory of matter waves has until very recently received relatively little treatment in the literature on history and foundations of physics. This paper attempts to clarify a number of aspects of de Broglie’s theory, as formulated primarily in his famous thesis, which still give rise to confusion or debate. To this end, a re-examination is made of the scope and validity of the relativistic physics employed in de Broglie’s arguments concerning the existence of phase waves and their physical implications. Recent doubts concerning the soundness of de Broglie’s introduction of a wave group associated with the quantum are also analyzed in detail, and it is argued that the wave group indeed has a problematic, if minor, role in the overall theory.