MadSci Network: Physics
Query:

Re: does matter wave requires medium to move?

Date: Sun Jun 16 08:31:38 2013
Posted By: Benn Tannenbaum, Program Director
Area of science: Physics
ID: 1369922999.Ph
Message:

This is a great question! First, as you note, sound waves cannot pass
through a vacuum as they are excitations of matter-- be it air, water, or
something solid, a sound is a wave of particles that push on their
neighbors and carrying along a vibration of a frequency that we can hear.

Light, as you also correctly note, also does not require a medium; photons
are the carriers of electromagnetic waves and work perfectly well in a
vacuum or elsewhere.

In the first case, we're moving some matter around to get sound. In the
second case, the particle itself-- the photon-- is what is moving at a
certain frequency. That's why it doesn't require a medium.

Matter waves are like photons-- the particles themselves have the
wavelengths that interfere to produce the patterns we call diffraction, etc.

So in answer to your question, no, matter waves do not require a medium
through which to move.


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