Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: DoctorBeaver on 24/01/2009 14:55:13
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One of the year’s most remarkable motion pictures lasts just 3 seconds—and that’s after it has been slowed down a billion billion times. The film documents an electron in motion the instant after it was booted from an atom by an ultraviolet pulse. Created by an international team of physicists, the movie is the first of its kind.
from http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jan/070 (http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jan/070)
Watch the video (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=32uEvwxNJvE&feature=PlayList&p=09AB0395C93EB88A&index=0)
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Amazing; it looks just like two half cycles of a photon spinning on a common radius at the speed of light [:)] (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fphotontheory.com%2Fvern.gif&hash=c22996c1b3c68c693722af86eb9eafb9)
Edit: The spinning icon is my speculation of a schematic for a proton comprised of three photon shells. An electron would consist of one much larger spinning shell. The model is to scale in accord with the Square of the Shells (http://photontheory.com/Square_Shells.html) rule.
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I was wondering what the different coloured dots represent. Any ideas?
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I was wondering what the different coloured dots represent. Any ideas?
Of course I would see them as amplitude variations of the electromagnetic field that comprise the electron. If you visualize the electron as I described above, the dynamics would put points of maximum amplitude at different places depending upon the instant of observation.
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OK. Thanks
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I notice in the video that the electron is clearly not a point particle. It exists in a spacial area. Now we have to change our thinking about the size of an electron from a point to something larger. Maybe it is the size of the circumference that would be formed by its energetic wave length. [:)]
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There are a few things in the description of what was done that don't quite make sense to me.
If the laser pulse duration was just one attosecond, and that at least one entire wavelength of emr was emitted during the pulse (how would it be possible to emit just a part of a wavelength?) then the frequency of the illuminating 'light' was at least 1*10^18 Hz i.e. X-rays. So ok, they've made a very short pulse duration X-ray laser. However, if the electron was induced to change orbit by a pulse of mere UV light, what is illuminating it with X-rays going to do, seeing as the X-rays are going to be much more energetic than the UV?
It's also strange to see someone saying that the electron orbits the nucleus in about 150 attoseconds when we've all learned to think of it as a wave-function wrapped around the nucleus, until it's collapsed, that is.
I can only guess that what we're actually seeing is a changing interference pattern, much like a hologram movie, in the illuminating light caused by the electron.
There's still that issue of moving it with UV and then just illuminating with X-rays though. I can only guess that the article has been dumbed-down somewhat.
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Amazing; it looks just like two half cycles of a photon spinning on a common radius at the speed of light [:)] (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fphotontheory.com%2Fvern.gif&hash=c22996c1b3c68c693722af86eb9eafb9)
Edit: The spinning icon is my speculation of a schematic for a proton comprised of three photon shells. An electron would consist of one much larger spinning shell. The model is to scale in accord with the Square of the Shells (http://photontheory.com/Square_Shells.html) rule.
That is right, the only thing is that there are more "rings" in the video. [:)]
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That is right, the only thing is that there are more "rings" in the video. [:)]
The "rings" might be different views of the same phenomenon since it is a strobe type observation.
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http://www.atto.fysik.lth.se/
You will find a description of how they made it there.
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...be possible to emit just a part of a wavelength?) then the frequency of the illuminating 'light' was at least 1*10^18 Hz i.e. X-rays. So ok, they've made a very short pulse duration X-ray laser. However, if the electron was induced to change orbit by a pulse of mere UV light, what is illuminating it with X-rays going to do, seeing as the X-rays are going to be much more energetic than the UV?
As I understand it, you would normally onsider that UV light might eject an outer-shell electron. X-ray wavelengths interact with inner-shell electrons where the transitions represent much higher energies.