Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

A Classical Explanation of Compton Scattering

Jean Louis Van Belle

Published Dec 1, 2019• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In this paper, we bring the Zitterbewegung electron model and our photon model together to provide a classical explanation of the scattering of photons by electrons. We understand electron-photon interference (which is usually referred to as Compton scattering) as two electromagnetic oscillations interfering (classically) with each other. While developing the model, we offer some reflections on the Uncertainty Principle (Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics). We conclude there is no need for it: God doesn’t play dice.

Related papers

The Difference Between a Theory, a Calculation and an Explanation

Jean Louis Van Belle

In this paper, we try to show where and why quantum mechanics went wrong – and why and when the job of both the academic physicist as well as the would-be student of quantum mechanics turned into calculating rather than explaining what might or might not be happening. Modern quantum physicists effectively resemble econometrists modeling input-output relations: if they are lucky, they will get some kind of mathematical description of what goes in and what goes out, but the math does not tell them how stuff actually happens. To show what an actual explanation might look like, we bring the Zitterbewegung electron model and our photon model together to provide a classical explanation of Compton scattering of photons by electrons so as to show what electron-photon interference might actually be: two electromagnetic oscillations interfering (classically) with each other. While developing the model, we also offer some reflections on the nature of the Uncertainty Principle. Finally, we also offer a brief history of the bad ideas which led to the current mess in physics.

•Apr 1, 2020•0 citations

A Classical Quantum Theory of Light

Jean Louis Van Belle

The Zitterbewegung model of an electron offers a classical interpretation for interference and diffraction of electrons. The idea is very intuitive because it incorporates John Wheeler’s idea of mass without mass: we have an indivisible naked charge that has no properties but its charge and its size (the classical electron radius) and it is easy to understand that the electromagnetic oscillation that keeps this tiny circular current going – like a perpetual current ring in some superconducting material – cannot be separated from it. In contrast, we keep wondering: what keeps a photon together? Hence, the real challenge for any realist interpretation of quantum mechanics is to explain the quantization of light: what are these photons? In this paper, we offer a classical quantum theory for light. The intuition behind the model is the same as the one we developed for an electron: we think of the photon as a harmonic electromagnetic oscillator, and its elementary cycle determines its properties, including spin and its size (the effective area of interference).

•Jun 1, 2019•0 citations

Theory of Compton scattering by interfering electromagnetic fields produced by two independent sources

M. Bertolotti, Concita Sibilia

The interference effect produced by two independent sources can be understood in terms of the detection process, owing to the inability of the detector to know from which of the two sources the photons come. Detection based on the Compton effect seems to be a powerful method for recording the interference between high-frequency coherent fields. It is shown that by taking advantage of the uncertainty over the photon momenta, the scattering probability for an electron in an interference fringe is very high when the electrons are not relativistic. When the fields have the same frequency in the laboratory system, relativistic electrons can "see" the interference only when the angles between the fields are very small. In general, relativistic electrons see interference when the fields are suitably shifted in frequency in the laboratory system.

Physical Review A•Jan 1, 1980•10 citations

Compton scattering and Heisenberg’s microscope revisited

Brian Gerard Williams

Compton scattering figures prominently in the introductory chapters of textbooks on quantum mechanics as providing evidence for the ‘‘particulate’’ nature of light. It also arises in discussions of ‘‘Heisenberg’s microscope,’’ in which it is shown that attempts to measure the position and the momentum of an electron simultaneously are governed by the uncertainty principle. However, recent developments in Compton scattering have not yet found their way into the textbooks. In this paper we review the history of the Compton effect and describe briefly some of the modern developments in x-ray and electron Compton scattering and their application to the study of electron momentum densities which we believe to have a pedagogical value. Finally, we return to Heisenberg’s microscope, and show how it has now become a reality. A complete analysis for all scattering angles depends crucially on the different expressions for the resolution and the depth of focus of the microscope.

American Journal of Physics•May 1, 1984•6 citations

In Search of Schroedinger's Electron and Einstein's Atom Too !

Jean Louis Van Belle

This article explores a possible physical interpretation of the wavefunction. It zooms in on the physical model it implies for an electron in free space (further building on Schroedinger's ideas in regard to the apparent Zitterbewegung of an electron), but then also discusses the wavefunction for particles (including non-charged particles) in general. While it basically concludes that the mainstream interpretation of quantum physics (the Copenhagen interpretation) is and remains the most parsimonious explanation, it also argues that one or two extra assumptions – the wavefunction as a two-dimensional self-sustaining electromagnetic or gravitational oscillation in space – would make more frivolous explanations (many worlds, pilot wave, etcetera) redundant.

•Sep 1, 2018•0 citations

A New Interpretation of Photon

Kunwar Jagdish Narain

The present interpretation of photon is as: A photon = a quantum of radiation energy + energy hn, where the quantum of radiation energy constitutes the photon and provides the particle like physical existence to it, similarly, as the quantum of charge (-e) constitutes the electron and provides the particle like physical existence to it, and the energy hn enables the photon to travel with velocity c, spin with frequency n (which the photon obtains from the orbiting electron, from which the photon is emitted), scatter electron in Compton scattering, and eject electron penetrating into metals in photoelectric effect. The present interpretation of photon enables to provide very clear and complete explanations of all the phenomena related to photons, including the phenomena of interference and diffraction

•Sep 1, 2017•0 citations
In this paper, we bring the Zitterbewegung electron model and our photon model together to provide a classical explanation of the scattering of photons by electrons. We understand electron-photon interference (which is usually referred to as Compton scattering) as two electromagnetic oscillations interfering (classically) with each other. While developing the model, we offer some reflections on the Uncertainty Principle (Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics). We conclude there is no need for it: God doesn’t play dice.
In this paper, we try to show where and why quantum mechanics went wrong – and why and when the job of both the academic physicist as well as the would-be student of quantum mechanics turned into calculating rather than explaining what might or might not be happening. Modern quantum physicists effectively resemble econometrists modeling input-output relations: if they are lucky, they will get some kind of mathematical description of what goes in and what goes out, but the math does not tell them how stuff actually happens. To show what an actual explanation might look like, we bring the Zitterbewegung electron model and our photon model together to provide a classical explanation of Compton scattering of photons by electrons so as to show what electron-photon interference might actually be: two electromagnetic oscillations interfering (classically) with each other. While developing the model, we also offer some reflections on the nature of the Uncertainty Principle. Finally, we also offer a brief history of the bad ideas which led to the current mess in physics.
The Zitterbewegung model of an electron offers a classical interpretation for interference and diffraction of electrons. The idea is very intuitive because it incorporates John Wheeler’s idea of mass without mass: we have an indivisible naked charge that has no properties but its charge and its size (the classical electron radius) and it is easy to understand that the electromagnetic oscillation that keeps this tiny circular current going – like a perpetual current ring in some superconducting material – cannot be separated from it. In contrast, we keep wondering: what keeps a photon together? Hence, the real challenge for any realist interpretation of quantum mechanics is to explain the quantization of light: what are these photons? In this paper, we offer a classical quantum theory for light. The intuition behind the model is the same as the one we developed for an electron: we think of the photon as a harmonic electromagnetic oscillator, and its elementary cycle determines its properties, including spin and its size (the effective area of interference).
The interference effect produced by two independent sources can be understood in terms of the detection process, owing to the inability of the detector to know from which of the two sources the photons come. Detection based on the Compton effect seems to be a powerful method for recording the interference between high-frequency coherent fields. It is shown that by taking advantage of the uncertainty over the photon momenta, the scattering probability for an electron in an interference fringe is very high when the electrons are not relativistic. When the fields have the same frequency in the laboratory system, relativistic electrons can "see" the interference only when the angles between the fields are very small. In general, relativistic electrons see interference when the fields are suitably shifted in frequency in the laboratory system.
Compton scattering figures prominently in the introductory chapters of textbooks on quantum mechanics as providing evidence for the ‘‘particulate’’ nature of light. It also arises in discussions of ‘‘Heisenberg’s microscope,’’ in which it is shown that attempts to measure the position and the momentum of an electron simultaneously are governed by the uncertainty principle. However, recent developments in Compton scattering have not yet found their way into the textbooks. In this paper we review the history of the Compton effect and describe briefly some of the modern developments in x-ray and electron Compton scattering and their application to the study of electron momentum densities which we believe to have a pedagogical value. Finally, we return to Heisenberg’s microscope, and show how it has now become a reality. A complete analysis for all scattering angles depends crucially on the different expressions for the resolution and the depth of focus of the microscope.
This article explores a possible physical interpretation of the wavefunction. It zooms in on the physical model it implies for an electron in free space (further building on Schroedinger's ideas in regard to the apparent Zitterbewegung of an electron), but then also discusses the wavefunction for particles (including non-charged particles) in general. While it basically concludes that the mainstream interpretation of quantum physics (the Copenhagen interpretation) is and remains the most parsimonious explanation, it also argues that one or two extra assumptions – the wavefunction as a two-dimensional self-sustaining electromagnetic or gravitational oscillation in space – would make more frivolous explanations (many worlds, pilot wave, etcetera) redundant.
The present interpretation of photon is as: A photon = a quantum of radiation energy + energy hn, where the quantum of radiation energy constitutes the photon and provides the particle like physical existence to it, similarly, as the quantum of charge (-e) constitutes the electron and provides the particle like physical existence to it, and the energy hn enables the photon to travel with velocity c, spin with frequency n (which the photon obtains from the orbiting electron, from which the photon is emitted), scatter electron in Compton scattering, and eject electron penetrating into metals in photoelectric effect. The present interpretation of photon enables to provide very clear and complete explanations of all the phenomena related to photons, including the phenomena of interference and diffraction