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An electron is an indivisible particle and its electric field has to be a constant too. Going through a slit how the electric field goes through the wall and how it will be regenerated behind the slit? The question has a variation for endless walls and for finite walls.

There where some other questions about infinity or not of fields from particles: The maximum distance for which Coulomb's law has been verified?, What happens when a field turns on or off?, What is the largest distance for which the influence of the electric field of a single electron was measured?

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HolgerFiedler
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    The electric field is not a material object, it doesn't have to "go through the slit". I don't know what you're asking. – ACuriousMind Nov 24 '15 at 13:19
  • I don't understand the issue; why do you think that the electric field would not obey Maxwell's equations with the obstacle? – Kyle Kanos Nov 24 '15 at 13:48
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    The electric field is not just a property of the electron, it's a property of the whole system i.e. the electrons and whatever dielectric material makes up the slit. So the electric field doesn't go through the slit. As the electron approaches the slit the geometry of the electron + slit material system changes and the geometry of the electric field changes accordingly. – John Rennie Nov 24 '15 at 16:41
  • Sorry for the closevote Helger. But imagine a similar scenario where a hurricane passes between two mountain ranges. There is no issue, it gets through, and it's a hurricane again on the other side. – John Duffield Nov 24 '15 at 22:41
  • @JohnDuffield You touched the point. A hurricane behind a resistance is not the same, he will be dissipated. An electron stays the same behind a slit or even an edge. This is hard to explain if one suppose that the electric field of a single electron is infinite. Again, if one agree that the field of an electron is quantized, the quanta have to have a smallest amount due to Planck's constant. The field or vanish in infinity or - and this is hardly the case - stays constant after some distance. – HolgerFiedler Nov 25 '15 at 06:59
  • @JohnRennie You touched the point: "As the electron approaches the slit the geometry of the electron + slit material system changes and the geometry of the electric field changes accordingly". This is the reason why we see an intensity distribution behind any edge / slits. The common field is quantized. I'm not shure, does this happens because the common field between sharp edges and electrons (photons) is powerful enough to deflect the electrons or is the sharp edges electric field powerful enough to rotate the electric field of an electron and by this way to deflect the electron. – HolgerFiedler Nov 25 '15 at 07:07
  • Charge is quantized. Electric field is not. Because charge is quantized, the electron can't be partially dissipated like a hurricane. There can, of course, be a probability for the electron to be scattered rather than passing through. – The Photon Nov 25 '15 at 18:23
  • @ThePhoton What I'm talking about. An infinite field cold not be of the same strenght behind a slit. A finit field of an electron could be the same behind an slit. – HolgerFiedler Nov 25 '15 at 18:50

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You appear to have some impression of the electric field which has given you the idea that it's some sort of bubble or something around an electron, for example.

It's not. There's no real way to answer your question other than that that I can think of. It doesn't somehow fit itself through the slit or anything like that really.

Matt
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