Exploring Quantum Physics Through Hands-On Projects

by Prutchi, David

• ISBN13: 9781118140666
• ISBN10: 1118140664
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-07
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

This book allows readers to gain an intuitive understanding of the principles behind Quantum Mechanics through hands-on construction and replication of the original experiments that led to the current view of the quantum world. All of the experimental equipment can be built out of relatively inexpensive materials that are readily available. The math used in this book, simple and with clear explanations and analogies, is accessible to anyone with a knowledge of high school algebra and basic trigonometry.

Author Biography

David Prutchi, PhD, is Vice President of Engineering at Impulse Dynamics. An adept do-it-yourselfer, he is dedicated to bringing cutting-edge experimental physics within the grasp of fellow science buffs. In addition to being the lead author of Design and Development of Medical Electronic Instrumentation (Wiley), he has published over 30 scientific publications and holds over 70 patents. Shanni R. Prutchi is a high-school junior at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. An avid science and engineering enthusiast, she conducts research with her father in the areas of radio astronomy and quantum physics.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xi
Prologue	p. xv
Important Disclaimer and Warnings	p. xix
Acknowledgments	p. xxiii
About the Authors	p. xxv
Light as a Wave	p. 1
Newton's View: Light Consists of Particles	p. 1
Young's Interference of Light	p. 3
Automatic Scanning of Interference Patterns	p. 6
The Final Nail in the Coffin for Newton's Theory of Light	p. 8
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave	p. 9
Polarization	p. 11
Optics with 3-cm Wavelength "Light"	p. 11
Real-World Behaviors	p. 16
Double-Slit Interference with Microwaves	p. 17
The Doppler Effect	p. 18
Experiments and Questions	p. 20
Light as Particles	p. 23
The Seed of Quantum Physics: Planck's Formula	p. 27
The Photoelectric Effect	p. 28
Can we Detect Individual Photons?	p. 36
Low-Cost PMT Power Supplies	p. 38
Listening to Individual Photons	p. 41
Where does this Leave Us?	p. 45
Experiments and Questions	p. 45
Atoms and Radioactivity	p. 49
The Need for Vacuum	p. 49
The Mechanical Vacuum Pump	p. 51
The Vacuum Gauge	p. 53
A Very-High-Voltage Power Supply	p. 56
A Vacuum Tube Lego® Set	p. 56
Phosphor Screens	p. 59
The Electron Gun	p. 60
The Discovery of the Electron	p. 61
Cathode-Ray Tubes	p. 63
Thomson's First 1897 Experiment-Negative Charge and Rays are Joined Together	p. 65
Thomson's Second Experiment-Electrostatic Deflection of Cathode Rays	p. 67
Thomson and the Modern CRT	p. 69
Thomson's Third Experiment-Mass-to-Charge Ratio of the Electron	p. 72
Measuring e/m with our CRT	p. 74
A Magical Measurement of e/m	p. 77
Thomson's "Plum Pudding" Model of the Atom	p. 79
Geiger-Müller Counter	p. 80
¿, ß, and ¿	p. 89
The Nature of Beta Radiation	p. 92
The Ionizing Power of Alpha	p. 92
What are Alpha Particles?	p. 95
Rutherford's Alpha-Scattering Experiment	p. 96
Rutherford's Planetary Model of the Atom	p. 102
Experiments and Questions	p. 103
The Principle of Quantum Physics	p. 107
Emission Spectroscopy	p. 107
Bohr's Spark of Genius	p. 113
Orbitals and Not Orbits	p. 115
Quantization-The Core of Quantum Physics	p. 117
Experiments and Questions	p. 118
Wave-Particle Duality	p. 121
Gamma-Ray Spectrum Analysis	p. 122
What is the Nature of Light?	p. 126
Two-Slit Interference with Single Photons	p. 128
Imaging Single Photons	p. 133
The Answer: Complementarity	p. 135
Matter Waves	p. 137
Matter Waves and the Bohr Atom	p. 137
Experimental Confirmation of De Broglie's Matter Waves	p. 138
Two-Slit Interference with Single Electrons	p. 142
A Simple TEM	p. 144
Blurring the Line Between Quantum and Classical 148 Particle-Wave Duality in the Macroscopic World 148 Experiments and Questions	p. 149
The Uncertainty Principle	p. 151
Wavefunctions	p. 151
The Uncertainty Principle	p. 153
Experimental Demonstration of the Uncertainty Principle	p. 155
Time-Energy Uncertainty	p. 159
Fourier Analysis	p. 159
Bye, Bye Clockwork Universe	p. 163
Experiments and Questions	p. 165
SchröDinger (And his Zombie Cat)	p. 167
Real-World Particle in a Box	p. 171
Quantum Tunneling	p. 174
Quantum Tunneling Time	p. 178
Many-Worlds Interpretation	p. 183
Schrödinger's Cat in the Lab	p. 184
Beam Splitters	p. 186
Who Rolls the Dice?	p. 190
The Mach-Zehnder Interferometer	p. 192
"Which-Way" Experiments	p. 197
The Quantum Eraser	p. 199
Experiments and Questions	p. 200
Entanglement	p. 203
Bell's Inequalities	p. 205
An Entangled-Photon Source	p. 211
Detecting Entangled Photons	p. 214
High-Purity Single-Photon Source	p. 219
Testing Bell's Inequality	p. 220
Closing the Loopholes	p. 225
The Age of Quantum Information	p. 226
A Quantum Random-Number Generator	p. 228
Quantum Information	p. 229
Quantum Teleportation	p. 230
Faster-Than-Light Communication	p. 236
Quantum Cryptography	p. 237
Quantum Computing and Technologies for the Future	p. 240
Experiments and Questions	p. 242
References	p. 245
Sources For Materials And Components	p. 249
Abbreviations	p. 255
Index	p. 257
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