- #1
alexepascual
- 371
- 1
I am not proposing a particular explanation and just in case you suspect I have something in mind, I must tell you that I don't. I was wondering if anybody here has some ideas.
I understand that you may have objections to my question. One of them might be that a mechanistic model would not work because that would be classical mechanics and the de Broglie wavelenght is a quantum mechanical thing. But I am not trying to find a derivation or anything precise. I was just thinking that there might be some intuitive model that would help understand why a particle with larger momentum has a shorter wavelength. I am not looking for standard explanations such as the ones we find in textbooks, but some kind of intuitive paradigm.
Why there is a wave associated to a particle (you may also object this) probably nobody knows yet and is taken as a postulate. But let's consider a massive particle and its associated wave. If we look at a particle with twice the mass (moving at the same speed), its wavelength will be half the one of the original particle. Now, what happens if we look at this particle as being composed by two of the original particles next to each other? Each would have the original wavelenght but somehow they combine to form a single wave with half the wavelength. How can this be explained? Remember that I am looking for some picture of this and not some formula.
Also, if we take the original particle going at certain speed and having some wavelength according to its momentum, and then we increase the speed to twice its original value, then the wavelength will also be half the original one as we have doubled its momentum. How can this be explained? Do you have some ideas?
I understand that you may have objections to my question. One of them might be that a mechanistic model would not work because that would be classical mechanics and the de Broglie wavelenght is a quantum mechanical thing. But I am not trying to find a derivation or anything precise. I was just thinking that there might be some intuitive model that would help understand why a particle with larger momentum has a shorter wavelength. I am not looking for standard explanations such as the ones we find in textbooks, but some kind of intuitive paradigm.
Why there is a wave associated to a particle (you may also object this) probably nobody knows yet and is taken as a postulate. But let's consider a massive particle and its associated wave. If we look at a particle with twice the mass (moving at the same speed), its wavelength will be half the one of the original particle. Now, what happens if we look at this particle as being composed by two of the original particles next to each other? Each would have the original wavelenght but somehow they combine to form a single wave with half the wavelength. How can this be explained? Remember that I am looking for some picture of this and not some formula.
Also, if we take the original particle going at certain speed and having some wavelength according to its momentum, and then we increase the speed to twice its original value, then the wavelength will also be half the original one as we have doubled its momentum. How can this be explained? Do you have some ideas?
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