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A K Peters/CRC Press eBooks

Human Vision

Erik Reinhard, Erum Arif Khan, Ahmet Oguz Akyuz, Garrett Johnson

Published Jul 22, 2008• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In the previous chapter, light was treated exclusively as a wave phenomenon. This model is suitable for explaining reflection, refraction, and polarization. However, the wave model alone is not able to explain all phenomena of light. It is therefore necessary to extend the theory to include the notion of particles. This leads to the concept of wave-particle duality: light has behaviors commensurate with both wave models as well as particle models.

DOI
10.1201/b10637-6

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In the previous chapter, light was treated exclusively as a wave phenomenon. This model is suitable for explaining reflection, refraction, and polarization. However, the wave model alone is not able to explain all phenomena of light. It is therefore necessary to extend the theory to include the notion of particles. This leads to the concept of wave-particle duality: light has behaviors commensurate with both wave models as well as particle models.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, physicists have known that light must be considered as both a wave and a particle. Some properties of light – such as diffraction – can only be explained by treating it as waves, while others – like the photoelectric effect – can only be explained by treating it as particles. In the 1920s Louis de Broglie suggested that this wave–particle duality, which lies at the heart of the counterintuitive laws of quantum mechanics, could be extended to massive particles. In other words, electrons, atoms and molecules should diffract and interfere just like light does.
The evolution of light theories began with Isaac Newton's corpuscular model, which explained reflection and refraction but could not account for diffraction and interference. In contrast, Christiaan Huygens proposed a wave theory, explaining light's behavior through an ether-based medium, supported by his principle that each point in a wavefront acts as a secondary source. This idea was experimentally supported in the early nineteenth century when Thomas Young's double-slit experiment revealed an interference pattern, affirming light's wave nature. Later, James Clerk Maxwell unified electricity and magnetism, establishing light as an electromagnetic wave and extending the electromagnetic spectrum beyond visible light. In the twentieth century, Einstein's photoelectric effect introduced the concept of wave-particle duality, demonstrating that light behaves as discrete photons. Soon after, Louis de Broglie extended the idea of wave-particle duality to matter, a prediction confirmed in 1927 when Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer observed electron diffraction from a crystal and, independently, G.P. Thomson demonstrated electron diffraction through thin films, both proving that electrons also exhibit wave-like properties. This concept was dramatically visualized by Claus Jonsson's 1961 electron double-slit experiment. Recently, the ALICE collaboration observed quantum interference patterns at the femtometer scale in ultra-relativistic nuclear collisions, pushing quantum interference studies to new frontiers.
Light has wave-particle duality,but it is difficult to see these two properties in a particular optical phenomenon.Both properties of light can be a perfect unity,if we could explain the wave nature through the particle property.Base on the Mathematical modeling of Gong Zutong photon model and the forward electromagnetic photon model,we compared the MATLAB simulation results with the experimental results.Then we find both models are shortcomings,and propose an improved photon model.With this improved model,we explain the optical interference,diffraction and polarization phenomena which show the wave nature of light.