Lot 404

Louis de Broglie TLS Re: Goos-Hänchen Shift In Laser Beam Experiment!

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Louis de Broglie TLS Re: Goos-Hänchen Shift In Laser Beam Experiment!

Estimate: $500 - $600

Starting Bid: $160

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June 17, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Live Auction
Wilton, CT, US

Description:

Louis de Broglie
Paris, France, June 14, 1972
Louis de Broglie TLS Re: Goos-Hänchen Shift In Laser Beam Experiment!
TLS

A 1p typed letter signed by Nobel Prize-winning French physicist Louis de Broglie (1892-1987), as "Louis de Broglie" at lower right. June 14, 1972. [Paris, France.] Typed on watermarked bifold paper with "Institut de France / Académie des Sciences…" letterhead. In addition to his signature at the letter's conclusion, de Broglie has also underlined two words in the letter: "clarify" in the first paragraph; and "deny" in the second paragraph. He has also added an umlaut above the "a" in of the word "Goos-Hänchen shift." The inner pages are blank. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds, and staple holes and wrinkles affecting the upper left corner. Else near fine. 8.25" x 10.625."

Louis de Broglie wrote this letter to the editors of "Physical Review Letters," a weekly academic journal published by the American Physical Society (College Park, Maryland.)

De Broglie wrote in part:

"Dear Sirs,

Since the publication of our April 10 Physical Review letter, Dr. VIGIER and myself have received many letters discussing our interpretation of the Goos-Hänchen shift, including many requests to clarify the existence of a possible intermediate shift…

We now realize that this statement (which we felt to be evident because of the existence of commutable transverse and longitudinal shifts) needs to be clarified…

I feel [Dr. Vigier's] proposed letter should be published since it helps to push the present theoretical discussion (which evidently raises widespread interest) into the field of experimental Physics…"

De Broglie refers to an article which he and Jean-Pierre Vigier (1920-2004), his research assistant and frequent collaborator, had recently submitted to the "Physical Review Letters." Their article entitled "Photon Mass and New Experimental Results in Longitudinal Displacements of Laser Beams Near Total Reflection" had been published in the April 10, 1972 issue of "Physical Review Letters," Vol. 28, Issue 15, 1001. The physicists' presentation of their hypothesis about laser beam optics had generated a lot of discussion, with their "interpretation of the Goos-Hänchen shift" evidently polarizing fellow scientists. The Goos-Hänchen shift - sometimes referred to as the Goos-Hänchen effect - was advanced by two German physicists, Hermann Goos and Hilda Hänchen, and described an optical phenomenon in which a small lateral shift occurs when a light is totally reflected.

In the letter, Louis de Broglie mentions one academic, a "Professor Troup," who had submitted a rebuttal of sorts to his and Vigier's interpretation of the Goos-Hänchen shift. This was Gordon John Fordyce (1932-2015), an Australian physicist, who was the lead author of the response. The abstract of their response, which was published in the June 5, 1972 issue of "Physical Review Letters" stated: "The suggestion of de Broglie and Vigier that an 'intermediate shift' might be expected to be obtained in the Goos-Hänchen effect, for plane polarized beams having components both parallel and perpendicular to the plane of incidence of the totally reflective surface, is shown to be untenable. Their quoted experimental results are adequately explained classically." (June 5, 1972 issue of "Physical Review Letters," Vol. 28, Issue 23, 1499.)

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8.25" x 10.625"
  • Medium: TLS

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