Interference

Interference is the interaction between waves traveling in the same medium. When two
waves come into contact, depending on the phase differences along the waves,
constructive and destructive interferences will occur.

In constructive interference, the amplitude of the wave is amplified. This happens when
the two waves are in phase -- if the crests and troughs of the waves coincide with each
other. Consider two waves, one with a crest of +1 units and coinciding with a wave of +2
units in amplitude at that point, traveling in opposite directions on the same medium.
When these troughs come into contact, the resulting amplitude will be the sum of the
two waves, which is +3 in this case. Once the waves pass each other, however, they will
resume their original course with their original amplitude -- as if they have not been
disturbed at all.

Destructive interference is very much like constructive interference except that the
two waves cancels out each other. This happens when the waves are out of phase -- when
the crests of one wave coincide with the troughs of the other. Consider two waves, one
with a crest of +1 coinciding with a wave of -2 units in amplitude at that point, traveling
in opposite directions on the same medium. At the point of contact, the resulting
amplitude will be the difference of the two waves, which is -1 in this case. Just like
constructive interference, once the waves pass each other, they will resume their
original course with their original amplitude -- as if they have not been disturbed at all.

Diffraction

Diffraction is the bending of light as it passes the edge of an object. An example of this
property is the shadow. If observed carefully, the edges of shadows are not solid, but
slightly fuzzy.

So, what is going on? Diffraction can be easily explained with Huygens' Principle. Just as
the front of a wave passes the edge of an object, the wavelets will cause the succeeding
front to bend around the edge.

For some time, it was believed that the bending of light was not due to light itself, but
the edge of the object. Not until the British Physicist, Thomas Young, conducted the
double slit experiment before light was accepted as a wave.

In his experiment, he made two slits on a barrier and allowed monochromatic light (light
of a single wavelength) to pass through. The result is a series of light and dark areas on
the screen that could not be explained under the particle model of light. Under the wave
model of light, these light and dark areas can be explained with constructive and
destructive interference of waves.

Interference (wave propagation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Interference of two circular waves.Absolute value snapshots of the (real-valued,
scalar) wave field. Wavelength increasing from top to bottom, distance between wave
centers increasing from left to right. The dark regions indicate destructive
interference.

In physics, interference is the addition (superposition) of two or more waves that

results in a new wave pattern. Interference usually refers to the interaction of waves
that are correlated or coherentwith each other, either because they come from the
same source or because they have the same or nearly the same frequency. Interference
in physics corresponds to what in wireless communications is called multi-path
propagation and fading, while the term interference has a different meaning in wireless
communications.

Double-slit experiment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Slit experiment" redirects here. For other uses, see Diffraction.

Quantum mechanics

Uncertainty principle

Introduction · Mathematical
formulations

[show]Background
[show]Fundamental concepts
[hide]Experiments
Double-slit experiment
Davisson–Germer experiment
Stern–Gerlach experiment
Bell's inequality experiment
Popper's experiment
Schrödinger's cat
 Elitzur–Vaidman bomb-tester
Quantum eraser
[show]Formulations
[show]Equations
[show]Interpretations
[show]Advanced topics
[show]Scientists

v · d · e

Same double-slit assembly (0.7mm between slits); in top image, one slit is closed. Note
that the single-slit diffraction pattern — the faint spots on either side of the main band
— is also seen in the double-slit image, but at twice the intensity and with the addition
of many smaller interference fringes.

The double-slit experiment or Young's experiment involves particle beams or coherent

waves passing through two closely-spaced slits, after which in many circumstances they
are found to interferewith each other.

In quantum mechanics the double-slit experiment demonstrates the inseparability of

the wave andparticle natures of light and other quantum particles (wave–particle
duality). The setup used by Young, and by Newton, differs from the modern version;
they passed a beam of light over a thin object such as a slip of card (in Young's case) or
a hair (in Newton's case).[1][2] More recently a point light sourceilluminates a thin plate
with two parallel slits, and the light passing through the slits strikes a screen behind
them. The beams emerging from the two slits are coherent, in phase, as they are
derived from the same source. The wave nature of light causes the coherent light waves
passing through the two slits to interfere, creating a pattern of bright and dark bands
on the screen. (However, at the screen the light is always found to be absorbed as
though it were composed of discrete particles, photons.)[3][4]

Classical particles do not interfere with each other (they can collide, but that is quite
different). If classical particles are fired in a straight line through one of a pair of slits
they will all strike the screen in a pattern the same size and shape as the slit; if fired
through the other slit the result will be similar. If both slits are opened simultaneously,
the resulting pattern will simply be the sum of the two single-slit patterns. With light,
although in many circumstances it behaves as particles (photons), it has been known for
over two centuries that the pattern with two slits is not the sum of the separate
patterns—this established the wave nature of light. The actual distribution of
brightness can be explained by the alternately additive and subtractive interference of
waves.[5]

Any modification of the apparatus that can determine which slit a photon passes
through destroys the interference pattern,[5] illustrating the complementarity principle:
that light (and electrons, etc.) can behave as either particles or waves, but not both at
the same time.[6][7][8] However, an experiment performed in 1987[9] produced results that
demonstrated 'which-path' information could be obtained without destroying the
possibility of interference. This showed the effect of measurements that disturbed the
particles in transit to a lesser degree and thereby influenced the interference pattern
only to a comparable extent.

The double slit experiment can also be performed (using a different apparatus) with
particles of matter such as electrons with the same results, demonstrating that
light and matter have both particle-like and wave-like properties (particle-wave duality).
In the twentieth century small particles such as electrons and protons (diameter about
1.6 fm) were found to exhibit interference when passed through double slits. In 1999
objects large enough to see under a microscope, buckyball molecules (diameter about
0.7 nm, nearly half a million times that of a proton), were found to exhibit wave-like
interference.[10][11]
SINGLE SLIT DIFFRACTION PATTERN OF LIGHT

The diffraction pattern observed with

light and a small slit comes up in about
every high school and first year university
general physics class.

The intention of this web page is to

explain this pattern at the academic level
mentioned above.

Left: picture of a single slit diffraction pattern.

Light is interesting and mysterious because it consists of both a beam of particles, and
of waves in motion.

WAVE PARTICLE DUALITY:

All carriers of energy and momentum, such as light and electrons, propagate like a wave
and exchange energy like a particle.

It wasn't until the 19th century that convincing evidence was found showing that light
behaves like waves.
Before reading on, you may wish to review some wave terminology.

The key to understanding why light behaves like waves is

in INTERFERENCE and DIFFRACTION.
Interference and Diffraction are the phenomena that distinguish waves from particles:
waves interfere and diffract, particles do not.
Light bends around obstacles like waves do, and it is this bending which causes the single
slit diffraction pattern.

Some assumptions must be made for this description of the single slit diffraction
pattern:

• The slit size is small, relative to the wavelength of light.

• The screen is far away.
• Cylindrical waves can be represented in 2D diagrams as cicular waves.
• The intensity at any point on the screen is independent of the angle made
between the ray to the screen and the normal line between the slit and the
screen (this angle is called T below). This is possible because the slit is narrow.

interference pattern

Alternating light and dark bands, known as fringes, that are produced by interference.
In general, the pattern of peaks and troughs that results when two or more waves that
traveled slightly different paths from the same source are brought together. The term
is also used in radio astronomy, to describe the pattern that results when the signals
picked up by two or more elements of an interferometer are combined; interference is
the basic principle used in interferometry to increase resolving power.

diffraction pattern
The interference pattern that results when a wave or a series of waves undergoes
diffraction, as when passed through a diffraction grating or the lattices of a crystal.
The pattern provides information about the frequency of the wave and the structure of
the material causing the diffraction.

Diffraction grating
A very large reflecting diffraction grating.

In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical component with a periodic structure, which

splits and diffracts light into several beams travelling in different directions. The
directions of these beams depend on the spacing of the grating and the wavelength of
the light so that the grating acts as the dispersive element. Because of this, gratings
are commonly used in monochromators and spectrometers.

A photographic slide with a fine pattern of black lines forms a simple grating. For
practical applications, gratings generally have grooves or rulings on their surface rather
than dark lines. Such gratings can be either transmissive or reflective. Gratings which
modulate the phase rather than the amplitude of the incident light are also produced,
frequently using holography.

The principles of diffraction gratings were discovered by James Gregory, about a year
after Newton's prism experiments, initially with artifacts such as bird feathers. The
first man-made diffraction grating was made around 1785 by Philadelphiainventor David
Rittenhouse, who strung hairs between two finely threaded screws. This was similar to
notable German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer's wire diffraction grating in 1821.

Wave Beats
Sound travels in waves. You hear sound because
waves hit your ear. Sound waves are similar to
ocean waves. They both have a certain frequency.
The frequency is measured in hertz, which is one
cycle per second. One wave cycle is a complete
wave; both the up half (crest) and down half
(trough) are part of one cycle. People can hear
sounds between 20 and 20,000 hertz. Waves also
have a certain amplitude. Amplitude is a measure of
how strong the wave is; the higher the amplitude,
the higher the crests and deeper the troughs. The
amplitude switches between positive and negative
during each cycle. Waves are called periodic
functions because they repeat in a certain period, or time. Period and frequency are
related.
Waves don't usually reflect when they strike other waves. Instead, they combine. If the
amplitudes of two waves have the same sign (either both positive and both negative),
they will add together to form a wave with a larger amplitude. This is called constructive
interference. If the two amplitudes have opposite signs, they will subtract to form a
combined wave with lower amplitude. This is called destructive interference. Sound
waves with higher amplitudes sound louder than sound waves with lower amplitudes.
Constructive interference will make a sound louder while destructive interference will
make a sound quieter.
Two waves that add together may have different frequencies. That means that the
crests and troughs won't add up the same way with each new wave because one is moving
faster than the other. Part of the waves will interfere constructively and part will
interfere destructively. This is known as a beat in music. You can hear beats when two
instruments are almost playing the same note but are not quite together. Musicians use
beats to tune instruments. Piano tuners strike a tuning fork and then play a note on a
piano. If they hear a beat then they know they need to tighten or loosen the string for
that note. When the beat disappears, the note is in tune. This is how Doppler could tell
that the frequency of the trumpets on the moving train had changed--he could hear the
wave beat.

Coherent light

Coherent light are light waves that are "in phase" with one another.

For example, two waves are coherent if the crests of one wave are aligned with the
crests of the other and the troughs of one wave are aligned with the troughs of the
other. Otherwise, these light waves are considered incoherent.

MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT

The following pictures don't show any significant color differences - they're quite
"monochromatic". The effect on us is often a bit weird because we don't have any
anchors in the image where we could start to analyze it. However, just this "confusion"
make monochromatic pictures so interesting because we need a 2nd thought to make
sense of the situation.

In contrast to the previous picture the following one has a monochrome main subject - in
the first moment we actually have to search the subject here. While the main subject is
not obvious from the beginning monochrome pictures are often interesting because you
have to spend an additional moment to make sense of the scene.
A monochromatic light beam is characterized by its brightness or light intensity,
direction of propagation, and color (all visible characteristics) and by its state of
polarization (an invisible characteristic). Light waves oscillate, or swing back and forth,
perpendicularly to the direction of propagation. For example, if a light wave is
propagating horizontally, it is oscillating vertically. The best example of monochromatic
light is a laser beam. A laser light results from one atomic transition with a specific
single wavelength, which results in a monochromatic light beam.

When a monochromatic light is directed to a substance or material, it induces

transitions which are characteristic to the chemical properties of the constituent
elements of such material. Optical spectroscopy instruments record the peaks and
troughs of the resulting wave lights in a spectrometer that measures the changes in
frequency and intensity of these transitions. The resulting wave patterns indicate the
chemical composition of the sample. Scanning monochromators are optical instruments
that disperse light, permitting the scanning of forensic samples or evidence, using one
wavelength (or light color) at a time, and scan for the entire spectral range. Battery
powered ultraviolet monochromatic devices are used to scan for evidence not easily
detected by the naked eye at crime scenes. They allow hidden bloodstains, fibers,
fingerprints, and lesions that are just beneath the skin on corpses to be visualized by
the examiner.

Phase difference

In-phase waves
Out-of-phase waves

Left: the real part of a plane wavemoving from top to bottom. Right: the same wave
after a central section underwent a phase shift, for example, by passing through a glass
of different thickness than the other parts. (The illustration on the right ignores the
effect of diffraction whose effect increases over large distances).

Phase difference is the difference, expressed in electrical degrees or time, between

two waves having the same frequency and referenced to the same point in time.[1] Two
oscillators that have the same frequency and different phases have a phase difference,
and the oscillators are said to be out of phase with each other. The amount by which
such oscillators are out of step with each other can be expressed in degrees from 0° to
360°, or in radians from 0 to 2π. If the phase difference is 180 degrees (π radians),
then the two oscillators are said to be in antiphase. If two interacting waves meet at a
point where they are in antiphase, then destructive interference will occur. It is common
for waves of electromagnetic (light, RF), acoustic (sound) or other energy to become
superposed in their transmission medium. When that happens, the phase difference
determines whether they reinforce or weaken each other. Complete cancellation is
possible for waves with equal amplitudes.

Time is sometimes used (instead of angle) to express position within the cycle of an
oscillation.

 A phase difference is analogous to two athletes running around a race track at

the same speed and direction but starting at different positions on the track. They
pass a point at different instants in time. But the time difference (phase
difference) between them is a constant - same for every pass since they are at the
same speed and in the same direction. If they were at different speeds (different
frequencies), the phase difference is undefined and would only reflect different
starting positions. Technically, phase difference between two entities at various
frequencies is undefined and does not exist.
 Time zones are also analogous to phase differences.