Atomic recoil Atomic recoil Atomic recoil is the result of the interaction of an atom with an energetic elementary particle, when the momentum of the interacting particle is transferred to the atom as whole without altering non-translational degrees of freedom of the atom. It is a purely quantum phenomenon. Atomic recoil was discovered by Harriet Brooks, Canada's first female nuclear physicist. If the transferred momentum of atomic recoil is enough to disrupt the crystal lattice of the material, a vacancy defect is formed; otherwise a phonon is generated. Closely related to atomic recoil is electron recoil (see photoexcitation and photoionization), and nuclear
Particle in a box which is proportional to formula_44. The variance in the position is a measure of the uncertainty in position of the particle: The probability density for finding a particle with a given momentum is derived from the wavefunction as formula_46. As with position, the probability density for finding the particle at a given momentum depends upon its state, and is given by where, again, formula_33. The expectation value for the momentum is then calculated to be zero, and the variance in the momentum is calculated to be: The uncertainties in position and momentum (formula_50 and formula_51) are defined as being equal