Chennai twist to Compton effect

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Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google News ‘Meet me on this; maybe you can write a small article,’ wrote Professor Vinay Venugopal, of the Division of Physics, School of Advanced Sciences at VIT Chennai, in the answer book of first-year BTech student Piyush S Bhagdikar, after reading the latter’s answer to a difficult question.The words turned prophetic as it led to the teacher-student duo to conduct theoretical studies, and make a presentation at an international conference on a phenomenon that explains light-matter interaction, the Compton Effect. The teacher presented a paper on the topic presented at World Conference on Physics Education (WCPE-2012) on July 4 in Istanbul, Turkey; two foreign researchers even informally reviewed it. Many researchers have expressed interest in the paper, since.Dr S G Chefranov of the A M Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS, Moscow, who was working on similar lines, interested in the work, contacted Prof Venugopal. The two are now collaborating in their research.Prof Venugopal states that undergraduate textbooks on modern physics introduce the concept of particle nature of wave prior to that of wave nature of particle. “The former is illustrated using Compton effect where a photon collides with a stationary electron. Rarely these textbooks discuss explaining the Compton effect by assuming the wave nature of the photon and the electron, and also whether the scattered electrons have wave nature.” These discussions, he adds, can lead to a better understanding of wave-particle duality— a central concept of quantum mechanics.He concedes that the result is interesting and that he has discussed with many experts. “The work may be of interest to teachers and students for physics education research,” he says.However, he adds that he is planning experiments as an outcome of this study.“The lesson, therefore, this incident has for teachers is not to neglect the answer papers of their students while evaluating them. There may always be something of interest in it,” he asserts.first published:August 30, 2012, 09:27 ISTlast updated:August 30, 2012, 09:27 IST
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‘Meet me on this; maybe you can write a small article,’ wrote Professor Vinay Venugopal, of the Division of Physics, School of Advanced Sciences at VIT Chennai, in the answer book of first-year BTech student Piyush S Bhagdikar, after reading the latter’s answer to a difficult question.

The words turned prophetic as it led to the teacher-student duo to conduct theoretical studies, and make a presentation at an international conference on a phenomenon that explains light-matter interaction, the Compton Effect. The teacher presented a paper on the topic presented at World Conference on Physics Education (WCPE-2012) on July 4 in Istanbul, Turkey; two foreign researchers even informally reviewed it. Many researchers have expressed interest in the paper, since.

Dr S G Chefranov of the A M Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS, Moscow, who was working on similar lines, interested in the work, contacted Prof Venugopal. The two are now collaborating in their research.

Prof Venugopal states that undergraduate textbooks on modern physics introduce the concept of particle nature of wave prior to that of wave nature of particle. “The former is illustrated using Compton effect where a photon collides with a stationary electron. Rarely these textbooks discuss explaining the Compton effect by assuming the wave nature of the photon and the electron, and also whether the scattered electrons have wave nature.” These discussions, he adds, can lead to a better understanding of wave-particle duality— a central concept of quantum mechanics.

He concedes that the result is interesting and that he has discussed with many experts. “The work may be of interest to teachers and students for physics education research,” he says.

However, he adds that he is planning experiments as an outcome of this study.

“The lesson, therefore, this incident has for teachers is not to neglect the answer papers of their students while evaluating them. There may always be something of interest in it,” he asserts.