"... in terms of modern solid state physics, what does “transparent” mean? It means that, in the energy spectrum of the electrons in the material, there is a gap of forbidden energies between the occupied states (the valence band) and the empty states (the conduction band); light quanta corresponding to a visible wave-length do not have the energy needed to make electrons jump across it. This gap is quite a sophisticated concept, entirely dependent on quantum mechanics, and introduced for solids in the 1930’s by the pioneering work of Bloch, Peierls and A. H. Wilson. The theory was based on the assumption that the material was crystalline. ... my coworkers and I ... asked the question "how can glass be transparent?"."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Fellows of the Royal SocietyUniversity of Cambridge facultyPeople from LeedsPhysicists from EnglandNobel laureates from England
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nevill_Francis_Mott
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Nevill Francis Mott
Sir Nevill Francis Mott (30 September 1905 – 8 August 1996) was a British physicist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977 for "fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems" (according to the Nobel Prize citation). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1936.
4 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Nevill Francis Mott →
Related Quotes
"The hypothesis that the electron has a magnetic moment was, as is well known, first introduced to account for the dup…"
"In many materials the electrical behavior changes from metallic to nonmetallic when the pressure, temperature or magn…"
"Any scientist, myself or another, can become so enamoured of his brain child that he resents criticism."
"Tolkien has become a monster, devoured by his own popularity and absorbed into the absurdity of our time. The chasm b…"
"I will boldly say, that England...hath more fallow dear than all Europe that I have seen. No kingdom in the world hat…"
"Moryson is a sober and truthful writer, without imagination or much literary skill. He delights in statistics respect…"
"The most high and absolute power of the realm of England consisteth in the parliament: for as in war where the king h…"
"To be short, the prince is the life, the head and the authority of all things that be done in the realm of England. A…"
"What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind."
"Death at the headlands, Hesiod, long ago Gave thee to drink of his unhonied wine: Now Boreas cannot reach thee lying …"