Answer the following question:
The energy and momentum of an electron are related to the frequency and wavelength of the associated matter wave by the relations:

But while the value of λ is physically significant, the value of ν (and therefore, the value of the phase speed ν λ) has no physical significance. Why?

Question

Answer the following question:
The energy and momentum of an electron are related to the frequency and wavelength of the associated matter wave by the relations:

But while the value of λ is physically significant, the value of ν (and therefore, the value of the phase speed ν λ) has no physical significance. Why?

Philoid · Accepted Answer

We understand that momentum and wavelength of photons have physical significance as it is evident from X-diffraction crystallography. But Energy of photon which is related to the frequency is arbitrary to within an additive constant, hence absolute value of frequency has no physical significance.