Incoherent Scattering and the Concept of Discrete Electrons

Abstract

Experiment has shown that scattered x-rays contain both a coherent and an incoherent portion. Classical electron theory provides a formula for scattering closely similar to that based on wave mechanics, but includes both coherent and incoherent components only if the atom consists of discrete electrons. From a comparison of the classical and wave-mechanics theories of scattering it is concluded that the most accurate classical analog of Schr\odinger's $\ensuremath{\psi}{\ensuremath{\psi}}^{*}$ is the probability of occurrence of discrete electrons, and that a particular electron is associated with each particular function ${\ensuremath{\psi}}_{n}{{\ensuremath{\psi}}_{n}}^{*}$.