De Broglie Wavelength

History

As a prime example of wave-particle duality, the de Broglie wavelength is central to the understanding of quantum mechanics and the quantization of waves and matter. The de Broglie wavelength was first proposed by French physicist Loius de Broglie in 1924 as part of his PhD thesis. The de Broglie hypothesis derived a connection between the energy of a particle, even a massless particle such as a photon and its momentum from Einsteins famous equation and Planck's energy quantization relationship. This hypothesis was later confirmed by George Paget Thomson experimentally using a cathode ray diffraction experiment. The De Broglie Relationship between energy and wavelength remains a crucial part of our understanding of physics to this day.

The Main Idea

The fundamental concept that the De Broglie Hypothesis claims is the connection between energy and momentum, and therefore wavelength and momentum. This is derived simply from the relationship given by Einstein and Planck;

[math]\displaystyle{ E=\frac{hc}{\lamda} }[/math]

Energy is related to momentum with the following relationship;

[math]\displaystyle{ E=pc }[/math]