ERIC Number: EJ1217052
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1309-7202
EISSN: N/A
Light and Matter Diffraction from the Unified Viewpoint of Feynman's Sum of All Paths
Arlego, Marcelo; Fanaro, Maria de los Angeles
European Journal of Physics Education, v8 n2 p16-26 2017
In this work, we present a pedagogical strategy to describe the diffraction phenomenon based on a didactic adaptation of the Feynman's path integrals method, which uses only high school mathematics. The advantage of our approach is that it allows to describe the diffraction in a fully quantum context, where superposition and probabilistic aspects emerge naturally. Our method is based on a time-independent formulation, which allows modelling the phenomenon in geometric terms and trajectories in real space, which is an advantage from the didactic point of view. A distinctive aspect of our work is the description of the series of transformations and didactic transpositions of the fundamental equations that give rise to a common quantum framework for light and matter. This is something that is usually masked by the common use, and that to our knowledge has not been emphasized enough in a unified way. Finally, the role of the superposition of non-classical paths and their didactic potential are briefly mentioned.
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Physics, Light, Scientific Concepts, Geometric Concepts, Equations (Mathematics), Quantum Mechanics, Teaching Methods, Secondary School Science, Energy, High Schools
Erciyes University. Melikgazi, Kayseri, 38039 Turkey. Tel: +90-352-207-6666; Web site: http://www.eu-journal.org/index.php/EJPE
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Secondary Education; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A