Profile
Herman Batelaan
Professor of physics and astronomy, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Batelaan investigates electron interference and electromagnetic interactions through experiments and numerical models. With collaborators, he tested force-based explanations of the magnetic Aharonov–Bohm effect using electron arrival times and studied asymmetric diffraction near a magnetized nanorod. His work with Wayne Huang compares oscillator excitation in a specified classical zero-point-field model with quantum predictions.
Affiliations
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Department of Physics and Astronomy
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Bibliography
A bibliography listing does not establish authorship. Credits appear under attribution.
Published bibliography entries: 3. Showing 1–3 of 3.
Listed work
Paper · 2015
Discrete Excitation Spectrum of a Classical Harmonic Oscillator in Zero-Point Radiation
- Wayne Cheng-Wei Huang(Author)
- Herman Batelaan(Author)
Wayne Cheng-Wei Huang and Herman Batelaan test a common view that classical theories such as stochastic electrodynamics cannot produce discrete energy spectra. They find that a classical harmonic oscillator immersed in classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation, excited by a single pulse, shows a quantised excitation spectrum matching the quantum oscillator. Both spectra come from numerically computing the oscillator's total energy after the pulse, the quantum one by solving Schrödinger's equation. The classical zero-point field theory and quantum mechanics agree within the numerical convergence error. Planck's constant enters the classical theory only as the factor that sets the strength of the zero-point field.
Listed work
Paper · 2019
Asymmetry and non-dispersivity in the Aharonov-Bohm effect
- Maria Becker(Author)
- Giulio Guzzinati(Author)
- Armand Béché(Author)
- Johan Verbeeck(Author)
- Herman Batelaan(Author)
Becker, Guzzinati, Béché, Verbeeck and Batelaan study the Aharonov-Bohm effect, in which electromagnetic potentials affect electrons even where no field force acts. Zeilinger's theorem describes the missing classical force as the effect being dispersionless, while Shelankov predicted a quantum force in the same system. In the experiment, free electrons pass a magnetised nanorod and their far-field diffraction pattern is recorded. The pattern is asymmetric, confirming one of Shelankov's predictions and giving indirect experimental evidence of a quantum force. Their analysis shows Zeilinger's theorem and Shelankov's result are special cases of a single theorem.
Listed work
Paper · 2007
A macroscopic test of the Aharonov-Bohm effect
- Adam Caprez(Author)
- Brett Barwick(Author)
- Herman Batelaan(Author)
Caprez, Barwick and Batelaan investigate force explanations of the magnetic Aharonov–Bohm phase shift through a macroscopic electron time-of-flight experiment. Laser pulses extract electrons from a field-emission tip; the electrons pass between solenoids joined into a magnetic toroid before reaching a channelplate detector. For 40 eV electrons, they report no solenoid-current-dependent delay, with arrival-time scatter of ±0.1 ns. Changing the acceleration voltage confirms sensitivity to electromagnetic forces, while removing magnetic shielding does not change the result. They exclude force explanations producing the delay predicted by their equation, rather than measuring a phase shift and its absence of forces simultaneously.