Related papers: The conception of photons
Uncertainty relation for photons that overcomes the difficulties caused by the nonexistence of the photon position operator is derived in quantum electrodynamics. The photon energy density plays the role of the probability density in…
This paper provides, firstly, a succinct mathematical derivation of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of photons elaborating on previous results [M\"uller, E.E., Annals of Phys. 184, 219-230 (1988); M\"uller, E.E. Physica 139A, 165-174…
Minkowski diagrams in 1+1 dimensional flat space-time are given a strictly geometric derivation, directly from two gedanken experiments incorporating the principle of the constancy of the velocity of light and the principle of (special)…
In this paper we review the derivation of light bending obtained before the discovery of General Relativity (GR). It is intended for students learning GR or specialist that will find new lights and connexions on these historic derivations.…
Heisenberg in 1929 introduced the "collapse of the wavepacket" into quantum theory. We review here an experiment at Berkeley which demonstrated several aspects of this idea. In this experiment, a pair of daughter photons was produced in an…
In 1919 A. Einstein suspected first that gravitational fields could play an essential role in the structure of elementary particles. In 1937, P.A.M. Dirac found a miraculous link between the properties of the visible Universe and elementary…
Heisenberg's breakthrough in his July 1925 paper that set in motion the development of Quantum Mechanics through subsequent papers by Born, Jordan, Heisenberg and also Dirac (from 1925 to 1927) is reexamined through a modern lens. In this…
There are several ways to derive Einstein's celebrated formula for the energy of a massive particle at rest, $E=mc^2$. Noether's theorem applied to the relativistic Lagrange function provides an unambiguous and straightforward access to…
The constancy of the speed of light (the maximum velocity of interaction) is the second postulate of Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity. Currently, there is no correct theoretical proof of this constancy in all inertial frames…
A notion of quantization is proposed that is independent of the original statistical interpretation of the distribution of energy in a photon gas or of the quantization of angular momentum in hydrogen atom. Such a procedutre implies the…
We trace the evolution of quantization conditions from Planck's introduction of a new fundamental constant (h) in his treatment of blackbody radiation in 1900 to Heisenberg's interpretation of the commutation relations of modern quantum…
We study the photoelectric effect on the example of a simplified model of an atom with a single bound state, coupled to the quantized electromagnetic field. For this model, we show that Einstein's prediction for the photoelectric effect is…
Motivated by a revision of the classical equations of electromagnetism that allow for the inclusion of solitary waves in the solution space, the material collected in these notes examines the consequences of adopting the modified model in…
This is a review with some comments on the A. Einstein`s 1911 paper, which he published as one of his many attempts of the general theory of relativity. The main point of the idea is to propose a new approach about light and its motion as…
Before 1905, Poincar\'e stressed the importance of the method of clocks and their synchronization, but unlike Einstein, magnet and conductor (asymmetries in Lorentz's theory regarding the explanation of Faraday's induction) or chasing a…
A major consequence of special relativity, expressed in the relation $E_0 = m c^2$, is that the total energy content of an object at rest, including its thermal motion and binding energy among its constituents, is a measure of its inertia,…
Applying the seminal work of Bose in 1924 on what was later known as Bose-Einstein statistics, Einstein predicted in 1925 that at sufficiently low temperatures, a macroscopic fraction of constituents of a gas of bosons will drop down to the…
A two-level atom cannot emit more than one photon at a time. As early as the 1980s, this quantum feature was identified as a gateway to "single-photon sources", where a regular excitation sequence would create a stream of light particles…
As we mark the centenary of Albert Einstein's seminal contribution to both quantum mechanics and special relativity, we approach another anniversary--that of Einstein's foundation of the quantum theory of solids. But 100 years on, the same…
With each passing year, the young Albert Einstein's achievements in physics in the year 1905 seem to be ever more miraculous. We describe why the centenary of this remarkable year is worthy of celebration.