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Applied Physics Research

Comments on Einstein’s Explanation of Electrons, Photons, and the Photo-Electric Effect

Salama Abdelhady

Published Oct 30, 2011• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

According to an entropy approach and by reviewing the similarity between laws characterizing the flow of heat and electric charges, electric charges were defined as electromagnetic waves that possess an electrical potential or simply as ionized photons. Accordingly, the flow of electrons was defined as a simultaneous flow of particulate energy and wave energy. Such definitions led to clear the confusions of duality properties of electrons and light waves, conflicts in the SI system of units and to explain the difference between the calculated drift speed of electrons and the speed of electricity or charges in conductors. However, Einstein considered the electron to be a negative charge of unknown nature during his analysis of the photoelectric effect. Einstein presented his hypothesis that light may behave as a particle to find a plausible explanation of the photoelectric effect. He found the measured cutoff frequency of light below which light might not eject electrons from metal-surfaces in photocells regardless of how much light is shone on the surface as a proof of truth of his hypothesis. Such frequency may be explained also, according to the previously introduced definitions, as the minimum energy quanta that may gain a quantized potential in photocells. This explanation may find plausible explanations of the found measurements of the photoelectric effects for different metal surfaces, stopping voltages into photocells and the photoelectric effect of X-rays. Einstein’s hypothesis of the photoelectric effect failed to find plausible explanations of such measurement results. According to the principles of conservation of momentum, there is a minimum quantity of photons that may lead to bouncing an atomic electron out of its orbit. So, considering Einstein’s theory as a perfect hypothesis that explains the photoelectric effect may be a misconception.

DOI
10.5539/apr.v3n2p230

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According to an entropy approach and by reviewing the similarity between laws characterizing the flow of heat and electric charges, electric charges were defined as electromagnetic waves that possess an electrical potential or simply as ionized photons. Accordingly, the flow of electrons was defined as a simultaneous flow of particulate energy and wave energy. Such definitions led to clear the confusions of duality properties of electrons and light waves, conflicts in the SI system of units and to explain the difference between the calculated drift speed of electrons and the speed of electricity or charges in conductors. However, Einstein considered the electron to be a negative charge of unknown nature during his analysis of the photoelectric effect. Einstein presented his hypothesis that light may behave as a particle to find a plausible explanation of the photoelectric effect. He found the measured cutoff frequency of light below which light might not eject electrons from metal-surfaces in photocells regardless of how much light is shone on the surface as a proof of truth of his hypothesis. Such frequency may be explained also, according to the previously introduced definitions, as the minimum energy quanta that may gain a quantized potential in photocells. This explanation may find plausible explanations of the found measurements of the photoelectric effects for different metal surfaces, stopping voltages into photocells and the photoelectric effect of X-rays. Einstein’s hypothesis of the photoelectric effect failed to find plausible explanations of such measurement results. According to the principles of conservation of momentum, there is a minimum quantity of photons that may lead to bouncing an atomic electron out of its orbit. So, considering Einstein’s theory as a perfect hypothesis that explains the photoelectric effect may be a misconception.
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According to a previously introduced entropy approach; the flow of electric charges was defined as a flow of electromagnetic waves that has an electric potential. Similarly; the magnetic flux was defined as a flow of electromagnetic waves that has a magnetic potential. By a similar entropy approach, particle's kinetic energy is defined also as electromagnetic waves. So: the electron can be defined as an energized particle whose electric charge, magnetic energy and kinetic energy are electromagnetic waves. According to such definition and to the found similarity of the mechanisms and laws of mass and energy diffusions in additions to the Einstein’s principle of mass-energy equivalence; the flow ofelectrons can be postulated as a simultaneous flow of two energy components; particulized energy and wave energy. Hence; the electron hasn’t a dual nature but its behavior as a particle or as wave depends on the relative values of its two components in each flow. Truth of the introduced postulates is proved through finding also plausible explanation of thesintering phenomena and de-Broglie hypothesis.
Following an entropy approach that replaced time by entropy in Maxwell's wave equation and reviewing experimental results, it was possible to prove a unique nature of electrons as particles, a unique nature of light as waves and to end the duality confusion. Additionally, the postulate of energy quantization into quanta each of magnitude "hv " is proved as a conflict to the energy's nature as electromagnetic waves. Such conclusions led to violating main postulates of the quantum theory. Similarly, Schrodinger's equation that was introduced as a foundation of quantum mechanics to protest the duality confusions looses its meaning as the electron has a unique nature. According to the introduced entropy approach and measurement results, the photoelectric effect is found as a thermoelectric effect whose efficiency may approach the efficiency of Carnot cycle. Such conclusion violates the analysis of Shockley and Queisser that depends on the quantum approach and predicted an experimentally broken efficiency limit. As a conclusion, it is found that the entropy principles and the introduced entropy approach are rather realistic in microscopic analysis of thermodynamic systems when compared to the reviewed quantum theory.