|
Classical electron radius - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Ciceronian, Gothic, Greek, Latin, Roman, Victorian, Absolute, Aesthetic, Antediluvian, Antique, Archaic, Archetypical, Artistic, Capital, Champion, Choice, Classic, Clear, Common, Commonplace, Complete, Consummate |
|
|
|
The classical electron radius is based on a classical relativistic model of the electron. Its value is calculated
as
- <math>r_e=\frac{e^2}{mc^2} = 2.81794092\times 10^{-15} m<math>
where e is the electron charge (esu), m is the mass of the electron and c is the speed of light. Using classical
electrostatics, the amount of energy required to assemble a sphere of constant charge density, of radius re
and charge e
is just e2/re. If we equate this to the relativistic energy of the electron mc2 and
solve for re we arrive at the above answer. As a physical concept, this has been outdated by the
advent of the quantum mechanical description of the electron, however the above expression appears even in the quantum
description, but without the classical interpretation.
References
- Arthur N. Cox, Ed. "Allen's Astrophysical Quantities", 4th Ed, Springer, 1999.
|
|
|
