Wave Mechanics

In 1923, L. de Broglie[aut]de Broglie, Louis had proposed the theory of matter waves, suggesting that particles could display wave properties and vice versa. If particles behaved as waves, they should satisfy some sort of wave equation. In this chapter we will see how, expanding upon de Broglie’s ideas, the Austrian physicist E. Schrödinger[aut]Schrödinger, Erwin found a wave equation for the electron, thus formulating the wave mechanics. Moreover, we will discuss the X-ray diffraction, with the experiments conducted by M.T. von Laue[aut]Laue, Max Theodor Felix von, and W.H. Bragg[aut]Bragg, William Henry and W.L. Bragg[aut]Bragg, William Lawrence (father and son). Finally, we will describe the experimental discovery of electron diffraction made in 1927 by C.J. Davisson[aut]Davisson, Clinton Joseph and L.H. Germer[aut]Germer, Lester Halbert, in parallel with G.P. Thomson[aut]Thomson, George Paget and A. Reid, which confirmed de Broglie’s hypothesis on the wave nature of particles and completed the hypothesis of wave-particle dualism.