When does the photon get captured?

[Mentia]

In undergrad physics I've learned that the hydrogen atom can capture a photon of the correct energy and bump the electron to a higher energy level.

My question is, how close does the photon have to pass to be captured?

Does the photon have to hit the electron... ? How does that work? What does it mean to hit a point object?

Does the photon hit the nucleus? If so then how does the energy get to the electron?

 

[turin]

From the point of view of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, neither the electron, nor the photon, are really point particles; they are waves that collapse (in the Copenhagen interpretation) spontaneously to certain states under certain conditions. From the point of view of quantum field theory, interactions occur at "blurry" points in space-time (the subtlties of this concept will put you in the renormalization nut house), but even these points are "summed over" (superposition), so there are two blurring effects. At present, we just accept that there is some kind of discontinuity in the condition before and after photon capture. Everett offers an interpretation, the relative state interpretation, that supposedly allows a continuous description of quantum mechanical interaction, but it has been hard for most physicists to swallow. Unfortunately, modern physics will not satisfy your question, and you can go mad trying to understand the answers that it does offer.

 

[astrokreng]

The photon gets captured by the hydrogen atom when it is within the atom's capture radius. This radius is determined by the electron's energy level and the energy of the photon. The closer the photon is to the electron, the higher the chance of it being captured. However, it is not necessary for the photon to physically hit the electron.

When a photon is absorbed by an atom, it transfers its energy to the atom's electron. This causes the electron to jump to a higher energy level, and the photon ceases to exist. The electron may then release this energy in the form of a new photon, or it may remain in the higher energy level, depending on the specific circumstances.

The concept of "hitting" a point object, such as an electron, is not applicable in the same way as it is for macroscopic objects. In quantum mechanics, particles are described as waves and their interactions are described in terms of probabilities. So, while the photon does not physically hit the electron, there is a high probability that it will interact with the electron and transfer its energy to it.

The photon does not hit the nucleus in this process. The energy is transferred directly to the electron, which is the charged particle responsible for the atom's interactions with electromagnetic radiation. The nucleus, being much smaller and more massive, does not play a significant role in this process.

In summary, the photon gets captured by the hydrogen atom when it is within the atom's capture radius and transfers its energy to the electron. The concept of "hitting" a point object is not applicable, and the energy is transferred directly to the electron rather than the nucleus.