Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Preface
- Part I Perspectives on the 1927 Solvay conference
- Part II Quantum foundations and the 1927 Solvay conference
- Part III The proceedings of the 1927 Solvay conference
- 13 The intensity of X-ray reflection
- 14 Disagreements between experiment and the electromagnetic theory of radiation
- 15 The new dynamics of quanta
- 16 Quantum mechanics
- 17 Wave mechanics
- 18 General discussion of the new ideas presented
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
13 - The intensity of X-ray reflection
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Preface
- Part I Perspectives on the 1927 Solvay conference
- Part II Quantum foundations and the 1927 Solvay conference
- Part III The proceedings of the 1927 Solvay conference
- 13 The intensity of X-ray reflection
- 14 Disagreements between experiment and the electromagnetic theory of radiation
- 15 The new dynamics of quanta
- 16 Quantum mechanics
- 17 Wave mechanics
- 18 General discussion of the new ideas presented
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The classical treatment of x-ray diffraction phenomena
The earliest experiments on the diffraction of X-rays by crystals showed that the directions in which the rays were diffracted were governed by the classical laws of optics. Laue's original paper on the diffraction of white radiation by a crystal, and the work which my father and I initiated on the reflection of lines in the X-ray spectrum, were alike based on the laws of optics which hold for the diffraction grating. The high accuracy which has been developed by Siegbahn and others in the realm of X-ray spectroscopy is the best evidence of the truth of these laws. Advance in accuracy has shown the necessity of taking into account the very small refraction of X-rays by the crystal, but this refraction is also determined by the classical laws and provides no exception to the above statement.
The first attempts at crystal analysis showed further that the strength of the diffracted beam was related to the structure of the crystal in a way to be expected by the optical analogy. This has been the basis of most work on the analysis of crystal structure. When monochromatic X-rays are reflected from a set of crystal planes, the orders of reflection are strong, weak, or absent in a way which can be accounted for qualitatively by the arrangement of atoms parallel to these planes.
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- Information
- Quantum Theory at the CrossroadsReconsidering the 1927 Solvay Conference, pp. 259 - 300Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009