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Updated: May 22, 2025
X-ray Powder Diffraction in Conservation Science: Towards Routine Crystal Structure Determination of Corrosion Products on Heritage Art Objects
Published on: June 8, 2016
Intrusion of quantum crystallography into classical lands
Sizhuo Yu1, Jean Michel Gillet1
1Université Paris-Saclay, CentraleSupélec, CNRS, Laboratoire SPMS, F 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Abstract:
This article, written on the occasion of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, explores the development of alternative approaches to pure-state N-electron wavefunctions in quantum physics. It focuses on Quantum Crystallography tools and explains how the combination of X-ray coherent-elastic and incoherent-inelastic scattering data has enabled the description of mean-electron's quantum behaviour in phase space. The article gives a numerical example using a urea crystal to demonstrate the attainability of recovering a one-electron reduced density matrix and its associated reduced Wigner function. It emphasizes the importance of momentum-space measurements in obtaining a more accurate phase-space picture of electron quantum physics in crystals.
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