Electrons as Field Quanta: Straightforward Approach to Teaching Quantum Physics Export

@article{citeulike:2239444, abstract = {It is a basic insight of modern physics that the universe is made of fields and that all particles of matter and radiation are simply "field quanta," i.e. quantized excitations of continuous fields. This insight of quantum field theory (QFT) might offer the most straightforward way to teach non-relativistic quantum physics in general introductory physics courses. Conventional instruction teaches that, while photons are quanta of the electromagnetic field, material particles such as electrons are Newtonian-like objects accompanied by a new "wave function." This misses the simplicity and symmetry of the QFT approach. Why not teach from the beginning that electrons are, like photons, quantized excitations of a continuous field? This symmetry between photons and electrons is obvious from four experimental results: interference fringes in the double-slit experiments for light and for electrons, and the isolated photon and electron interactions that appear on the screen in the same two experiments done with low-intensity beams. This approach avoids wave-particle duality, because it says that both radiation and matter are continuous fields that can come through both slits, but quantized fields that must interact only in whole units.}, author = {Hobson, A.}, citeulike-article-id = {2239444}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2004APS..APRS12001H}, journal = {APS Meeting Abstracts}, keywords = {electrons, particles, qft}, month = {May}, pages = {12001+}, posted-at = {2008-01-16 14:33:40}, priority = {2}, title = {Electrons as Field Quanta: Straightforward Approach to Teaching Quantum Physics}, url = {http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2004APS..APRS12001H}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2239444 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2239444 N2 - It is a basic insight of modern physics that the universe is made of fields and that all particles of matter and radiation are simply "field quanta," i.e. quantized excitations of continuous fields. This insight of quantum field theory (QFT) might offer the most straightforward way to teach non-relativistic quantum physics in general introductory physics courses. Conventional instruction teaches that, while photons are quanta of the electromagnetic field, material particles such as electrons are Newtonian-like objects accompanied by a new "wave function." This misses the simplicity and symmetry of the QFT approach. Why not teach from the beginning that electrons are, like photons, quantized excitations of a continuous field? This symmetry between photons and electrons is obvious from four experimental results: interference fringes in the double-slit experiments for light and for electrons, and the isolated photon and electron interactions that appear on the screen in the same two experiments done with low-intensity beams. This approach avoids wave-particle duality, because it says that both radiation and matter are continuous fields that can come through both slits, but quantized fields that must interact only in whole units. JF - APS Meeting Abstracts TI - Electrons as Field Quanta: Straightforward Approach to Teaching Quantum Physics SP - 12001 KW - electrons KW - particles KW - qft AU - Hobson, A PY - 2004/May// UR - http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2004APS..APRS12001H ER -