Related papers: Photons -- Light Quanta
Polarization is one of light's most versatile degrees of freedom for both classical and quantum applications. The ability to measure light's state of polarization and changes therein is thus essential; this is the science of polarimetry. It…
Despite its name, Quantum Field Theory (QFT) has been built to describe interactions between localizable particles. For this reason the actual formalism of QFT is partly based on a suitable generalization of the one already used for systems…
The modes of the electromagnetic field are solutions of Maxwell's equations taking into account the material boundary conditions. The field modes of classical optics - properly normalized - are also the mode functions of quantum optics.…
The questions of whether a photon can be localized in an arbitrarily small volume and what is the allowable strength of that localization (the decrease with distance of the functional form) are questions of current interest. We propose a…
Some connections between quantum mechanics and classical physics are explored. The Planck-Einstein and De Broglie relations, the wavefunction and its probabilistic interpretation, the Canonical Commutation Relations and the Maxwell--Lorentz…
The problem of obtaining a realistic, relativistic description of a quantum system is discussed in the context of a simple (light-cone) lattice field theory. A natural stochastic model is proposed which, although non-local, is relativistic…
En nous laissant guider par la notion de champ qui en fait domine toute la physique nous d\'efinissons la nature physique d'un syst\`eme, ses propri\'et\'es et ses \'etats possibles. Nous proposons alors un cadre tr\`es g\'en\'erale…
This is an attempt to construct a classical microscopic model of the electron which underlies quantum mechanics. An electron is modeled, not as a point particle, but as the end of an electromagnetic string, a line of flux. These lines…
Any attempt to describe nature within classical physics requires the presence of Lorentz-invariant classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation so as to account for the Casimir forces between parallel conducting plates at low…
Quantum sensing has become a mature and broad field. It is generally related with the idea of using quantum resources to boost the performance of a number of practical tasks, including the radar-like detection of faint objects, the readout…
Based on the concepts of the quantum field theory of virtual photons as quanta of electromagnetic interaction, we discuss the physical content of the phenomena underlying the principle of quantum uncertainties. We consider the features of…
Wave-particle duality is the most fundamental description of the nature of a quantum object which behaves like a classical particle or wave depending on the measurement apparatus. On the other hand, entanglement represents nonclassical…
I argue that quantum mechanics is fundamentally a theory about the representation and manipulation of information, not a theory about the mechanics of nonclassical waves or particles. The notion of quantum information is to be understood as…
The authors of Phys.Rev.Lett. \textbf{111}, 240402 (2013) conclude that "the past of the photons is not represented by continuous trajectories". A simple analysis by standard quantum mechanics shows that this claim is false.
Non-classical concerns light whose properties cannot be explained by classical electrodynamics and which requires invoking quantum principles to be understood. Its existence is a direct consequence of field quantization; its study is a…
Optical experiments designed to explore quantum complementarity are reanalyzed. It is argued that, for each, a classical explanation is not only possible, but more coherent and less contrived. The final conclusion is that these experiments…
Recent progress in the study of the photon emission from highly-charged heavy ions is reviewed. These investigations show that high-$Z$ ions provide a unique tool for improving the understanding of the electron-electron and electron-photon…
Quantum optics potentially offers an information channel from the Universe beyond the established ones of imaging and spectroscopy. All existing cameras and all spectrometers measure aspects of the first-order spatial and/or temporal…
Quantum field theory currently has a single standard mathematical characterization (the Standard Model), but no single accepted conceptual framework to interpret the mathematics. Many of these conceptualizations rely on intuitive concepts…
This text begins with a series of critical considerations on the initial interpretation of quantum phenomena observed in atomic systems. The bewildering explanations advanced during the construction of quantum mechanics are shown to have…