Wave-Particle Duality regimes in Quantum Electron Wavepacket Interactions with Light and Matter

The wave-particle duality nature of free electron wavefunction and its measurability via its
interaction with radiation, have been the subject of inquiry and controversy since the early inception of
quantum theory [1]. We present a general theory of electron interaction with radiation and matter that
encompasses free electron radiation sources and accelerators on one hand and electron microscopy
interaction with quantum excitations in matter on the other hand. The universal formulation reveals the
transition of these interactions from the stimulated emission/absorption (deceleration/acceleration) regime
of free electron radiators and accelerators (FEL, DLA [2]) to the quantum energy spectrum regime of
Photon-Induced Near-Field Electron Microscopy (PINEM) [3].
I will further discuss the measurability and possible applications of spontaneous and stimulated
radiative interaction of optically modulated quantum electron wavepackets [4] in the single electron and
multi-particle regimes.
Reference
1. 1. Schrödinger, E. “An undulatory theory of the mechanics of atoms and molecules”, Physical
Review, 28(6), 1049 (1926); Born, M. Z. Physik 37, 863 (1926).
2. Peralta, et al. “Demonstration of electron acceleration in a laser-driven dielectric microstructure”.
Nature, 503(7474), 91 (2013).
3. Gover A, Pan Y. "Dimension-dependent stimulated radiative interaction of a single electron
quantum wavepacket." Physics Letters A 382, 1550 (2018).
4. Priebe, Katharina E., et al. "Attosecond electron pulse trains and quantum state reconstruction in
ultrafast transmission electron microscopy." Nature Photonics 11.12, 793 (2017)