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Instruction in quantum mechanics is becoming increasingly important as the field is not only a key part of modern physics research, but is also important for emerging technologies. However, many students regard quantum mechanics as a…
An approach to special relativity is outlined which emphasizes the wave and field mechanisms which physically produce the relativistic effects, with the goal of making them seem more natural to students by connecting more explicitly with…
We discuss advantages of using non-classical states of light for two aspects of optical imaging: creating of miniature images on photosensitive substrates, which constitutes the foundation for optical lithography, and imaging of micro…
A goal of physics is to understand the greatest possible breadth of natural phenomena in terms of the most economical set of basic concepts. However, as the understanding of physics has developed historically, its pedagogy and language have…
We examine the logical difficulties that arise when a particle(wave) interferes with itself. We propose to carry out to its full extent a `gedanken' experiment originally proposed by Feynman in order to give an unequivocal experimental…
Holography as a subject is neglected largely in current physics lessons and in school books. Even though this topic might be complex, it is applicable and viable in the world that we live in. Holography lends itself to further develop…
Optical microscopy is one of the oldest scientific instruments that is still used in forefront research. Ernst Abbe's nineteenth century formulation of the resolution limit in microscopy let generations of scientists believe that optical…
We review studies of the fluctuations of light made accessible by the invention of the laser and the strong interactions realized in cavity QED experiments. Photon antibunching advocating the discrete (particles), is contrasted with…
Feynman contended that the double-slit experiment contained the `only mystery' in quantum mechanics. The mystery was that electrons traverse the interferometer as waves, but are detected as particles. This note was motivated by the question…
Light-field imaging is an emerging paradigm in biomedical optics, offering the unique ability to capture volumetric information in a single snapshot by encoding both the spatial and angular components of light. Unlike conventional…
Random scattering of light is what makes materials such as white paint, clouds and biological tissue opaque. We show that although light propagating in these media is diffuse, a high degree of control is possible as phase information is not…
This is a report of a course on modern physics designed and taught to undergraduate science and engineering students in the Spring of 2013. The course, meant for freshmen, attempts to integrate statistical mechanics into non-classical…
The double slit interference experiment has been famously described by Richard Feynman as containing the "only mystery of quantum mechanics". The history of quantum mechanics is intimately linked with the discovery of the dual nature of…
An antisymmetric tensor, the photon tensor, is defined for the description of the photon as a massless relativistic particle. The photon can be visualized as an essentially two dimensional rotating object. The quantum mechanical description…
The dual wave-particle nature of quantum objects is a notoriously unintuitive feature of quantum theories. However, it is often deemed essential, due to quantum objects exhibiting diffraction and interference. We extend the work of…
Snell's law of light deflection between media with different indices of refraction is usually discussed in terms of the Maxwell electromagnetic wave theory. Snell's law may also be derived from a photon beam theory of light rays. This…
Much of our progress in understanding microscale biology has been powered by advances in microscopy. For instance, super-resolution microscopes allow the observation of biological structures at near-atomic-scale resolution, while…
Optics is an important subfield of physics required for instrument design and used in a variety of other disciplines, including materials science, physics, and life sciences such as developmental biology and cell biology. It is important to…
Quantum interference phenomena are widely viewed as posing a challenge to the classical worldview. Feynman even went so far as to proclaim that they are the only mystery and the basic peculiarity of quantum mechanics. Many have also argued…
Quantum physics and biology have long been regarded as unrelated disciplines, describing nature at the inanimate microlevel on the one hand and living species on the other hand. Over the last decades the life sciences have succeeded in…