Wave Physics of the Graphene Lattice Emulated in a Ripple Tank

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how a ripple tank experiment can emulate wave behavior in graphene's lattice, illustrating concepts like reciprocal space and symmetry through visual wave patterns.

Contribution

It extends the classic ripple tank experiment to model wave phenomena in periodic lattices like graphene, linking physical experiments with solid state theory.

Findings

Wave patterns match numerical simulations

Experiment illustrates reciprocal space and symmetry concepts

Provides educational visualization of lattice wave behavior

Abstract

Using the example of graphene, we have extended the classic ripple tank experiment to illustrate the behavior of waves in periodic lattices. A loudspeaker driving air through a periodically perforated plate onto the tank's water surface creates wave patterns that are in agreement with numerical simulations and are explained in terms of solid state theory. From an educational point of view, the experiment provides an illustrative example of the concepts of reciprocal space and symmetry.