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Main Authors: Löffler, Stefan, Schattschneider, Peter
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.01383
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author Löffler, Stefan
Schattschneider, Peter
author_facet Löffler, Stefan
Schattschneider, Peter
contents Elastic electron scattering is one of the primary means of investigating materials on the atomic scale. It is usually described by modeling the sample as a fixed, static, perturbative potential, thereby completely neglecting the quantum nature of the atoms inside. In this work, we present a quantum treatment of elastic electron scattering. We show that the interaction of the probe beam and the sample results in entanglement between the two systems, which can have far-reaching consequences, particularly on coherence and image contrast. As a timely example, we discuss decoherence in Bragg scattering on nanoparticles. We also investigate under which conditions the conventional scattering theory is recovered.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_01383
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Entanglement in Elastic Electron Scattering: Perturbation theory misses fundamental aspects of Bragg scattering
Löffler, Stefan
Schattschneider, Peter
Quantum Physics
Materials Science
Elastic electron scattering is one of the primary means of investigating materials on the atomic scale. It is usually described by modeling the sample as a fixed, static, perturbative potential, thereby completely neglecting the quantum nature of the atoms inside. In this work, we present a quantum treatment of elastic electron scattering. We show that the interaction of the probe beam and the sample results in entanglement between the two systems, which can have far-reaching consequences, particularly on coherence and image contrast. As a timely example, we discuss decoherence in Bragg scattering on nanoparticles. We also investigate under which conditions the conventional scattering theory is recovered.
title Entanglement in Elastic Electron Scattering: Perturbation theory misses fundamental aspects of Bragg scattering
topic Quantum Physics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.01383