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dimonium_anonimo t1_iuf6i32 wrote

Reply to comment by LifeScienceInvestor in eli5 What are phonons? (this is not a typo, I do not mean "photons") by PlesiothX

Would it be somewhat accurate to say it's a mathematical trick that makes it easier to analyze the propagation of the compression wave by pretending its a moving particle instead, simplifying the math?

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Ndvorsky t1_iufebwn wrote

I don’t deal with sound waves but in my field phonons are absolutely a mathematical trick. With some materials, you need more than just a photon to produce the photo electric effect, you also need a phonon which is in this case, a quantized amount of momentum. Phonons are a virtual Particle and therefore aren’t really existing.

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Dependent-Law7316 t1_iug40oc wrote

No, because phonons aren’t strictly related to forces applied externally. Molecules are naturally experiencing vibrations—spring like oscillations—along all of the interatomic bonds. When you have a bunch of molecules linked together, all of those vibrations are now interconnected and affecting each other, which is what we call a phonon.

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Kingreaper t1_iufazpu wrote

Phonons are often used in situations where you're analysing things at a quantum level, where wave-particle duality kicks in - particles can be more accurately modeled as waves, and visa versa, depending on the scenario in question - and for reasons that I don't understand well enough to ELI5 this applies to sound waves, which are therefore also particles.

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dimonium_anonimo t1_iufbbyf wrote

I dont mean to be rude, but that wasn't my question.

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Kingreaper t1_iufbzhs wrote

Sorry, I'll be more explicit: The answer to your question is "No" because of the explanation in my previous post.

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