Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 12, 2025

Scattering And Absorption of Light in Planetary Regoliths
Published on: July 1, 2019
Quantum theory of Rayleigh scattering
Abstract:
We suggest a quantum description of Rayleigh light scattering on atoms. We show that an entangled state of the excited atom and the incident photon is formed during the scattering. Due to entanglement, a photon is never completely absorbed by the atom. The formation of the scattering spectrum is considered as a relaxation of incident photons to the reservoir of free space modes that are in thermal equilibrium. Additional excitations of the reservoir modes occurring during scattering are treated as scattered light. We show that even if the frequency of incident photons is incommensurate with an atomic transition frequency, the scattered light spectrum has a maximum at the frequency of incident photons. In addition, the linewidth of the scattered light is much smaller than that of the spontaneous emission of a single atom. Therefore, the process can be considered as elastic.
More Related Videos
06:49In situ Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering on Roll-To-Roll Coating of Organic Solar Cells with Laboratory X-ray Instrumentation
Published on: March 2, 2021
11:03An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Related Concept Videos
The de Broglie Wavelength
The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
Interference and Diffraction
The Uncertainty Principle
Emission Spectra
X-ray Crystallography
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...