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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Fresnel diffraction is a basic quantum mechanical effect

Mohammad Taghi Tavassoly

Published May 14, 2021• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Using the Fresnel–Kirchhoff integral, we express the state of the light that diffracts from an aperture to a point, by superposition of two or more waves. The amplitudes of the waves are determined by the distances of the point from the ray optics borders of the emerging beams. The interference approach to the Fresnel diffraction leads to a universal formulation of the normalized intensity distribution on the diffraction pattern that determines the state of the incident light, the parameters of the aperture, and its distance from the observation plane, uniquely. In the photon approach, according to the uncertainty principle, confining the position of a photon to an aperture changes the probable propagation direction of the photon in an interval that leads to the diffraction of the photon or light. Thus, the normalized intensity distribution on the diffraction pattern is the probability distribution of a photon. To this probability distribution, a probability amplitude distribution is associated that diffracts similar to a wave in Fresnel diffraction. Applying the introduced approach to the study of the diffraction, from different simple apertures and phase steps, we deduce general behaviors of the Fresnel diffraction and show it is involved in all aspects of light phenomena.

DOI
10.1364/josab.416783

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Using the Fresnel–Kirchhoff integral, we express the state of the light that diffracts from an aperture to a point, by superposition of two or more waves. The amplitudes of the waves are determined by the distances of the point from the ray optics borders of the emerging beams. The interference approach to the Fresnel diffraction leads to a universal formulation of the normalized intensity distribution on the diffraction pattern that determines the state of the incident light, the parameters of the aperture, and its distance from the observation plane, uniquely. In the photon approach, according to the uncertainty principle, confining the position of a photon to an aperture changes the probable propagation direction of the photon in an interval that leads to the diffraction of the photon or light. Thus, the normalized intensity distribution on the diffraction pattern is the probability distribution of a photon. To this probability distribution, a probability amplitude distribution is associated that diffracts similar to a wave in Fresnel diffraction. Applying the introduced approach to the study of the diffraction, from different simple apertures and phase steps, we deduce general behaviors of the Fresnel diffraction and show it is involved in all aspects of light phenomena.
When a parallel beam of light illuminates an aperture, the uncertainty principles require associating probability amplitude to a photon at each point of the aperture. Superposition of the amplitudes at the observation point behind the aperture, determines the probability that the photon strikes the point. In this paper, we show that this "photon approach" explains several optical concepts. The approach is applied to study the diffraction from a single slit, double slit, and transmission phase step. Then, we apply it to explain the diffraction from a bi-prism and a Michelson's interferometer, and show that the photon approach to the appearance of the interference fringes is more reasonable than the wave approach. We deduce the coherence behavior of light from the uncertainty principles, and finally, we use the photon approach to extract the ray optics laws and image formation formulae.
A theoretical model of diffraction based on quantum mechanics is presented. It provides a general expression of the quantum state of a particle after its passage through an aperture in an opaque plane (diaphragm). In this model, the diaphragm is considered as a measurement device not only of the transverse coordinates but also of the longitudinal coordinate of the particle. Moreover, the change of state from the initial state (incident wave) to the final state (diffracted wave) results from two successive projections involving a transitional state which corresponds to the state of the particle when it is localized inside the aperture. These features of the model results from the need to ensure compatibility with the Huygens-Fresnel principle and with the kinematics constraints of the particle-diaphragm interaction. In the case of the diffraction at infinity (Fraunhofer diffraction), the predictions of the quantum model and of the classical theories based on the integrals of Fresnel-Kirchhoff (FK) and Rayleigh-Sommerfeld (RS1 and RS2) are different. They are close at small diffraction angles but contradictory at large angles. In this latter region, only the quantum and RS1 models predict the probable decrease in the intensity of the diffracted wave to zero when the diffraction angle reaches 90{\deg}. However, this decrease is different according to the model and it turns out that the discrepancies become significant beyond 60{\deg}. A measurement of the intensity of the particle flow in this region should allow to test the two theories.
This paper provides a complete physical model associated with mathematical analysis and formulation that is based on Schrödinger equation and Feynman path integral. This model answers to single Photon (electron) double slit experiment with high degree of accuracy. It also gives a new method of analysis and formulation for Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffractions that are completely according to the Schrödinger equation and Feynman path concept. The results of these methods are precisely in agreement with the near field and far field diffraction experiments. In other words the new formulation in all above mentioned phenomena i.e. single photon (electron) double slit experiment, Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffractions are completely confirmed by lab experiments(measurements). Lab experiments mean common intensity and pattern experiments resulting from Fresnel (near field) diffraction, Fraunhofer (far field) diffraction and patterns resulting in single photon (electron) lab experiment. The resultant formulas are sketched and calculated by matlab program, the resultant graphs and values are compared with lab experiments in each section. This analysis substitutes wave function and probability density function concepts instead of interference of light beams emitted from infinitesimal pinholes or classical interpretation of near field diffraction and far field diffraction phenomena. The ultimate goal of this paper is to give a very accurate answer to the single particle double slit experiment and also to unify diffraction concept of classical optics in to quantum mechanics, deleting the traditional concept of phases in classical optics and substituting the concept of deflection of Feynman paths. The above mentioned analysis may be a glad tiding to a reliable method to unify classical optics in to quantum mechanics.
This paper provides a complete physical model associated with mathematical analysis and formulation that is based on Schrödinger equation and Feynman path integral. This model answers to single Photon (electron) double slit experiment with high degree of accuracy. It also gives a new method of analysis and formulation for Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffractions that are completely according to the Schrödinger equation and Feynman path concept. The results of these methods are precisely in agreement with the near field and far field diffraction experiments. In other words the new formulation in all above mentioned phenomena i.e. single photon (electron) double slit experiment, Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffractions are completely confirmed by lab experiments(measurements). Lab experiments mean common intensity and pattern experiments resulting from Fresnel (near field) diffraction, Fraunhofer (far field) diffraction and patterns resulting in single photon (electron) lab experiment. The resultant formulas are sketched and calculated by matlab program, the resultant graphs and values are compared with lab experiments in each section. This analysis substitutes wave function and probability density function concepts instead of interference of light beams emitted from infinitesimal pinholes or classical interpretation of near field diffraction and far field diffraction phenomena. The ultimate goal of this paper is to give a very accurate answer to the single particle double slit experiment and also to unify diffraction concept of classical optics in to quantum mechanics, deleting the traditional concept of phases in classical optics and substituting the concept of deflection of Feynman paths. The above mentioned analysis may be a glad tiding to a reliable method to unify classical optics in to quantum mechanics.
The nature of light, extending from the optical to the x-ray regime, is reviewed from a diffraction point of view by comparing field-based statistical optics and photon-based quantum optics approaches. The topic is introduced by comparing historical diffraction concepts based on wave interference, Dirac’s notion of photon self-interference, Feynman’s interference of space–time photon probability amplitudes, and Glauber’s formulation of coherence functions based on photon detection. The concepts are elucidated by a review of how the semiclassical combination of the disparate photon and wave concepts have been used to describe light creation, diffraction, and detection. The origin of the fundamental diffraction limit is then discussed in both wave and photon pictures. By use of Feynman’s concept of probability amplitudes associated with independent photons, we show that quantum electrodynamics, the complete theory of light, reduces in lowest order to the conventional wave formalism of diffraction. As an introduction to multi-photon effects, we then review fundamental one- and two-photon experiments and detection schemes, in particular the seminal Hanbury Brown–Twiss experiment. The formal discourse of the paper starts with a treatment of first-order coherence theory. In first order, the statistical optics and quantum optics formulations of coherence are shown to be equivalent. This is elucidated by a discussion of Zernike’s powerful theorem of partial coherence propagation, a cornerstone of statistical optics, followed by its quantum derivation based on the interference of single-photon probability amplitudes. The treatment is then extended to second-order coherence theory, where the equivalence of wave and particle descriptions is shown to break down. This is illustrated by considering two photons whose space–time probability amplitudes are correlated through nonlinear birth processes, resulting in entanglement or cloning. In both cases, the two-photon diffraction patterns are shown to exhibit resolution below the conventional diffraction limit, defined by the one-photon diffraction patterns. The origin of the reduction is shown to arise from the interference of two-photon probability amplitudes. By comparing first- and second-order diffraction, it is shown that the conventional first-order concept of partial coherence with its limits of chaoticity and first-order coherence has the second-order analogue of partial entanglement, with its limits corresponding to two entangled photons (“entangled biphotons”) and two cloned photons (“cloned biphotons”), the latter being second-order coherent. The concept of cloned biphotons is extended to the case of nnn cloned photons, resulting in a 1/n1/n1/n reduction of the diffraction limit. In the limit of nnnth-order collective state are shown to propagate on particle like trajectories, reproducing the 0th-order ray-optics picture. These results are discussed in terms of the linearity of quantum mechanics and Heisenberg’s space–momentum uncertainty principle. Finally, a general concept of coherence based on photon density is developed that in first order is equivalent to the conventional wave-based picture.
Typically the use of the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction formula as a photon propagator is widely accepted due to the abundant experimental evidence that suggests that it works. However, a direct link between the propagation of the electromagnetic field in classical optics and the propagation of photons where the square of the probability amplitude describes the transverse probability of the photon detection is still an issue to be clarified. We develop a mathematical formulation for the photon propagation using the formalism of electromagnetic field quantization and the path-integral method, whose main feature is its similarity with a fractional Fourier transform (FRFT). Here we show that because of the close relation existing between the FRFT and the Fresnel diffraction integral, this propagator can be written as a Fresnel diffraction, which brings forward a discussion of the fundamental character of it at the photon level compared to the Huygens-Fresnel principle. Finally, we carry out an experiment of photon counting by a rectangular slit supporting the result that the diffraction phenomenon in the Fresnel approximation behaves as the actual classical limit.