Electron Diffraction: An Essay Solely based on Classical Electromagnetic Theory

Abstract

This paper discusses up to what point the fundamental two slits electron diffraction experiment can be modelled as a purely classical electromagnetic scattering problem [1]. The trajectories of single point charges (electrons with no spin) are computed as they pass, one by one, between two ungrounded perfectly conducting spheres, all computations being exclusively based on classical electromagnetic theory [2]. The computed particles trajectories clearly exhibit “interference like” behavior like those predicted by quantum theory, namely
•     Particles trajectories deviations depending on the accelerating voltage, spheres radii, separation (gap) and initial particle coordinates
•     Trajectories exhibiting velocity/energy discontinuities similar to quantum trajectories
•     Depending on the overall system dimensions, the energy jumps associated to observed trajectory discontinuity have been found to bear a clear association to the energy jumps in quantum systems as expressed in terms of Pank´s constant h.