In the electronic double slit interference experiment, if there is light shining on the electron, what will the result be? Has anyone done this experiment?
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3 Answers
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if there is light shining on the electron, what will the result be?
Electrons will interact with the photons of the light with the result:
if the photon is of low energy (light of low frequency), some extra fuzziness to the usual measurement errors of the spots
if of energy of x ray and higher, the electron may be a) kicked out of the line or b) its momentum changed so the probability wavelength will not be appropriate for the width and distance between slits, so it will have low probability of going through the slits and creating the pattern.
In other words, interfering with the input electrons diminishes the intensity of the pattern.
The mathematics is simple and there is no need to do an experiment to know what will happen.
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Not sure why the original question was edited? In general, because the signal passed through the double slits undetected (with no knowledge of which slit the electron passed through) the pattern seen on the detection screen (regardless of what technology is used as a detection screen) will be that of an wave interference pattern.
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It depends. The light will affect the motion of the electron, but will not necessarily destroy the interference picture. If we measure the reflected light and this measurement gives us information on which slit the electron passed through, the interference is destroyed.
