Group C

1. Dual nature of light and matter. Principle of complementarity.

WAVE – PARTICLE DUALITY – this is the concept that all matter and energy exhibits both: wave-like
and particle-like properties.
The idea of duality is rooted in a debate in 1600s, when competing theories of light were proposed:
Huygens (waves) and Newtons (particles). Current scientific theory holds that all particles have also
wave nature (and vice versa). In fact, all objects, even macroscopic, have dual nature, but we can’t
detect their wave properties due to their small wavelengths.
Light is at the same time a wave and a stream of particles, called photons.
The best known proof for dual nature of light is the Compton’s effect.

COMPLEMENTARITY PRINCIPLE - It states that sometimes object can have several contradictory
properties. Sometimes we can swith between the different views, but we can never see them both at
the same time. But, in reality, the figure exists as BOTH at the same time, but we can perceive or
view it one at a time, NEVER together.

2. Light propagation in homogeneous and non-homogeneous media. Phenomenon of light

In homogenous media the wave is propagating in the x direction. It’s linearly polarized (E is parallel to
x axis, B parallel to z axis), vector B and E are perpendicular to each other and to the direction of
propagation.

In a nonhomogeneous medium, the velocity of propagation of light waves varies from point to point,
so that we must describe the optical properties of the medium by giving the index of refraction as a
function of position: n = n(x,y,z). The light rays form a family of lines intersecting the wave surfaces at
right angles and are, in general, curved; hence the law of rectilinear propagation does not apply to
nonhomogeneous media. The rays are concave toward the region where the index of refraction is
greater. All rays connecting two wave fronts have equal optical lengths. We can see above in
everyday life in effects such as looming and mirage.

Scattering of light – light wave falling on a transparent solid medium, its electric and magnetic field,
causes the electrons in the solid to oscillate periodically. The wave that travels through the medium
is a result of the incident wave and the radiations from the oscillating electrons. This phenomena is
called scattering of light. The resultant wave is divergent; it has a maximum intensity in the direction
of the incident beam, falling off rapidly on either side. In a perfect solid crystal, sideways light
scattering is insignificant because all oscillating charges are bound together so they act cooperatively.
In liquid or gas media, where oscillating charged particles are separated by a relatively large
distances and cannot effectively act cooperatively. Light scattered is at least partially polarized.

Rainbow – white light is specified mixture of many electromagnetic waves of different wavelengths
and the index of refraction. The rainbow is just caused by the dispersion of white light in water
drops. White light from the sun enters the drop and is dispersed into a spectrum after reflected the
light is further dispersed. The rainbow is a result of superposition of colored beams from all water
drops.
 3. The phenomenon of double refraction (birefrigence).

Most of media is optically isotropic, which means that the speed of light, and thus the index of
refraction is independent of the direction of propagation and of the state of polarization of light
beams. But many crystalline solids are optically anisotropic. An unpolarized light beam falling on an
optically anisotropic material splits into two components: the o-ray, which follows the Snell’s law of
refraction and the e-ray, which does not. The two refracted rays have perpendicular linear
polarizations. This phenomenon is called double refraction or birefrigence and was studied already
by Huygens in the 17th century. Some doubly refracting materials are strongly absorbing for one
polarization component. Such materials are called dichroic and are used for example as polarizing
sheets.
The o-ray travels in the crystal with the same speed v0 in all directions
The e-ray travels in the crystal with a speed that varies with direction from v0 to ve so its index of
refraction varies at the same time from no to ne. N-s are called the principal indices of refraction of
the doubly refracting crystal. Some doubly refracting crystals, as mica or topaz, have even three
principal indices of refraction.

4. Why is the photoelectric effect an evidence of the corpuscular nature of light ? Photonic
theory of light.

The photoelectric effect refers to the emission, or ejection, of electrons from the surface of, generally, a metal
in response to incident light. Energy contained within the incident light is absorbed by electrons within the
metal, giving the electrons sufficient energy to be 'knocked' out of, that is, emitted from, the surface of the
metal. Using the classical Maxwell wave theory of light, the more intense the incident light the greater the
energy with which the electrons should be ejected from the metal. That is, the average energy carried by an
ejected (photoelectric) electron should increase with the intensity of the incident light. In fact, Lénard found
that this was not so. Rather, he found the energies of the emitted electrons to be independent of the intensity
of the incident radiation.
Einstein (1905) successfully resolved this paradox by proposing that the incident light consisted of individual
quanta, called photons, that interacted with the electrons in the metal like discrete particles, rather than as
continuous waves. For a given frequency, or 'color,' of the incident radiation, each photon carried the energy E
= hf, where h is Planck's constant and f is the frequency. Increasing the intensity of the light corresponded, in
Einstein's model, to increasing the number of incident photons per unit time (flux), while the energy of each
photon remained the same (as long as the frequency of the radiation was held constant).
Clearly, in Einstein's model, increasing the intensity of the incident radiation would cause greater numbers of
electrons to be ejected, but each electron would carry the same average energy because each incident photon
carried the same energy. [This assumes that the dominant process consists of individual photons being
absorbed by and resulting in the ejection of a single electron.] Likewise, in Einstein's model, increasing the
frequency f, rather than the intensity, of the incident radiation would increase the average energy of the
emitted electrons.
Both of these predictions were confirmed experimentally. Moreover, the rate of increase of the energy of the
ejected electrons with increasing frequency, which can be measured, enables one to determine the value of
Planck's constant h.
The photoelectric effect is perhaps the most direct and convincing evidence of the existence of photons and
the 'corpuscular' nature of light and electromagnetic radiation. That is, it provides undeniable evidence of the
quantization of the electromagnetic field and the limitations of the classical field equations of Maxwell.