"Seeing" particles with De Broglie visible wavelengths

[andrewpareles]

Say an electron is fired with the same De Broglie wavelength as blue light.

If the electron were to reach your eye, would you see blue, or would something else happen?

 

[Drakkith]

The electron would most likely be stopped by your cornea, as it is traveling relatively slowly, only about 1600 m/s by my calculations. Even if it did reach your cornea, your eyes are not designed to detect electrons or filter them by wavelength, so it could potentially activate any of your color receptors or do nothing at all. Astronauts in space have said that they occasionally see flashes of light even with their eyes closed as a result of charged particles passing through their bodies and interacting with their eyes. I assume they mean white light, as it wasn't described as being colorful.