Spatial resolution from momentum transfer

ID: spatial-resolution-from-momentum-transfer

In quantum scattering, a spatial feature on scale contributes Fourier components with wavenumber of order . A momentum transfer of magnitude supplies wavenumber , giving the characteristic estimate . With the energy-like quantity , this becomes . The full de Broglie wavelength uses and differs from the corresponding reduced wavelength by . Beam energy only bounds accessible momentum transfer; it does not determine the resolution of every event.

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