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AJP July 2016

July 2016 Issue, Volume 84, No. 7

This month's cover image is from the featured paper, Optical interference with digital holograms by David Gossman, Benjamin Perez-Garcia, Raul I. Hernandez-Aranda, and Andrew Forbes. DOI: 10.1119/1.4948604

In 1804, Thomas Young reported the observation of fringes in the intensity of light, and attributed it to the concept of interference between coherent sources. In this paper, we revisit this famous experiment and show how it can easily be demonstrated with digital holography. We look closely at the concept of interference with light and ask, “fringes in what?” We then show that depending on how light interferes, fringe patterns in observables other than intensity can be seen. We explain this conceptually and demonstrate it experimentally. We provide a holistic approach to the topic, aided by modern laboratory practices for a straightforward demonstration of the underlying physics.

Journal TOC Archive

 Papers

Resource Letter QI-1: Quantum Information by Frederick W. Strauch. DOI: 10.1119/1.4948608

Quantitative wave-particle duality by Tabish Qureshi. DOI: 10.1119/1.4948606

Measurement-induced decoherence and information in double-slit interference by Joshua Kincaid, Kyle McLelland, and Michael Zwolak. DOI: 10.1119/1.4943585

Electromagnetic field energy revisited by Robert C. Hilborn. DOI: 10.1119/1.4950762

Celebrating the centenary of the Schwarzschild solutions by Øyvind Grøn. DOI: 10.1119/1.4944031

Vision and change in introductory physics for the life sciences by S. G. J. Mochrie. DOI: 10.1119/1.4947003

PHYSICS EDUCATION RESEARCH

Effects of reducing scaffolding in an undergraduate electronics lab by Evan Halstead.   DOI: 10.1119/1.4945347

APPARATUS AND DEMONSTRATION NOTES

Phase-sensitive detection in the undergraduate lab using a low-cost microcontroller by K. D. Schultz.   DOI:  10.1119/1.4953341
Complex artificial halos for the classroom by Markus Selmke and Sarah Selmke  DOI:  10.1119/1.4953342

Letters to the Editor

Richard Feynman and Bell's Theorem by Andrew Whitaker.  DOI:  10.1119/1.4948268

Contemporary Physics in Textbooks by Jay M. Pasachoff. DOI:  10.1119/1.49483164

Additional Resources

In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, AAPT created a collection of articles previously published in AJP and TPT.  If you missed it earlier in the year, you can still enjoy it.