Related papers: The conception of photons
In near-field optics and optical tunneling theory, photon wave mechanics, i.e., the first quantized theory of the photon, allows us to address the spatial field localization problem in a flexible manner which links smoothly to classical…
While the notion of the position of photons is indispensable in the quantum optical situations, it has been known in mathematical physics that any position operator cannot be defined for a massless free particle with a non-zero finite spin.…
.This article reexamines the genesis of special relativity by situating the contributions of Lorentz, Poincare, and Einstein within the scientific, documentary, and editorial context of the years 1895--1913. It emphasizes the rapid…
In recent works, Knuth and Bahreyni have demonstrated that the concepts of space and time are emergent in a coarse-grained model of direct particle-particle influence. In addition, Knuth demonstrated that observer-made inferences regarding…
The notion of Einstein causality, i.e. the limiting role of the velocity of light in the transmission of signals, is discussed. It is pointed out that Nimtz and coworkers use the notion of signal velocity in a different sense from Einstein…
We review the literature on possible violations of the superposition principle for electromagnetic fields in vacuum from the earliest studies until the emergence of renormalized QED at the end of the 1940's. The exposition covers…
The traditional interpretation of radiative emission and absorption asserts that photons are created and annihilated in such processes. A Gedanken experiment is considered in which kinetic energy from observed photons is systematically…
We present a reformulation of Bohr's analysis of Einstein's thought experiment with the photon box, which hopefully settles some unclear issues. The box is weighed by two position measurements, the first immediately before the emission of…
Boltzmann's struggle with a derivation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is sketched. So is his first derivation of the connection between entropy and probability in 1877. Planck's derivation and quantum mechanical modifications of…
The fundamental Einstein-Hopf work that convinced the most part of physicists, since it had appeared, to take quantum ideas seriously, is reanalysed in this paper. We have studied the genesis of the work and have found the conclusion made…
Dawning neutron physics was more complex than one might expect. The chance that the neutron comprised a proton and an electron was diffusely taken into account after the discovery of the neutron. Moreover, uncertainties persisted about the…
A complete history of early atomic models would fill volumes, but a reasonably coherent tale of the path from mechanical atoms to the quantum can be told by focusing on the relevant work of three great contributors to atomic physics, in the…
Einstein, in his "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Korper", gave a physical (operational) meaning to "time" of a remote event in describing "motion" by introducing the concept of "synchronous stationary clocks located at different places". But…
We show that the vacuum permeability and permittivity may originate from the magnetization and the polarization of continuously appearing and disappearing fermion pairs. We then show that if we simply model the propagation of the photon in…
More than a century ago, Albert Einstein presented his general theory of gravitation (GR) to the Prussian Academy of Sciences. One of the predictions of the theory is that not only particles and objects with mass, but also the quanta of…
The talk consists of three parts. ``History'' briefly describes the emergence and evolution of the concept of photon during the first two decades of the 20th century. ``Mass'' gives a short review of the literature on the upper limit of the…
The idea of atoms is old but X-rays provided the first probe into the physical atom. Photographs of X-ray scattering from crystals -Laue spots- were the first visual proof for the physical existence of atoms arranged in a perfect geometric…
Schroedinger's equation gave early quantum theory a visual language that looked like physics again: a wave evolving by a linear differential equation. This essay argues that the same success also seeded a recurring impulse to keep quantum…
Since its inception, quantum theory has been the subject of fierce interpretive controversy, which persists to this day. Disputed topics include the basic ontology and dynamics of the theory, the role (if any) of measurement, the meaning of…
In 1917 Einstein published his Cosmological Considerations Concerning the General Theory of Relativity. In it was the first use of the cosmological constant. Shortly thereafter Schr\"odinger presented a note providing a solution to these…