On wave theory of the photoeffect

TL;DR

This paper explores the wave theory of the photoelectric effect, reviewing historical experiments and theoretical explanations, including Einstein's photon concept and Schrödinger's wave approach, to deepen understanding of light-matter interactions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the wave-based theoretical framework for the photoelectric effect, integrating classical and quantum perspectives.

Findings

Wave theory offers insights into the photoelectric effect beyond photon models

Schrödinger's approach calculates angular distribution of photocurrent

Perturbation methods applied to Maxwell-Schrödinger equations

Abstract

The photoelectric effect has been discovered by H. Hertz, and studied experimentally by P. Lenard. First theoretical explanation has been done by A. Einstein who suggested the corpuscular theory of light introducing the "photons" which are particles of the light. In the framework of the Schr\"odinger theory the effect has been described first by G. Wentzel who calculated the angulardistribution of the photocurrent. The calculation relies on the perturbation procedure applied to the coupled Maxwell-Schr\"odinger equations.