Single-slit diffraction and the Heisenberg principle for position and momentum

W. Görlich; I. Hoffmann; T. Schürmann

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arXiv · 0812.4775

Single-slit diffraction and the Heisenberg principle for position and momentum

W. Görlich·I. Hoffmann·T. Schürmann

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Abstract

Monochromatic light is prepared by a single slit of spatial width Δx. The diffraction pattern is considered to obtain the corresponding probability density of the momentum. Let P be the probability weight to measure a momentum in a finite window of width Δp. For small Δp the asymptotic law P ~ ΔxΔp/h is verified, while h is Planck's constant of action.

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W. Görlich, I. Hoffmann, T. Schürmann. 2010-12-25. Single-slit diffraction and the Heisenberg principle for position and momentum. https://arxiv.org/abs/0812.4775

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