Related papers: Is the Photon Really a Particle? V.2
One of the most puzzling consequences of interpreting quantum mechanics in terms of concepts borrowed from classical physics, is the so-called wave-particle duality. Usually, wave-particle duality is illustrated in terms of complementarity…
An experiment is proposed in which the overall path taken by a photon is indicated by the timing of a twin herald photon, while a particular segment of that path is determined by interference. The experiment is to be carried out in two…
We assume that particles are point-like objects even when not observed. We report on the consequences of our assumption within the realm of quantum theory. An important consequence is the necessity of vacuum fields to account for particle…
Symmetry plays a central role in many areas of modern physics. Here we show that it also underpins the dual particle and wave nature of quantum systems. We begin by noting that a classical point particle breaks translational symmetry…
Light displays particle and wave properties within the bounds of the inequality, K^2+V^2<=1, where K represents particle information and V represents corresponding wave information. Using two laser beams that cross and then diverge from…
Common sense suggests that a particle must have a definite origin if its full path information is available. In quantum mechanics, the knowledge of path information is captured through the well-established duality relation between path…
The position-representation wave function for multi-photon states and its equation of motion are introduced. A major strength of the theory is that it describes the complete evolution (including polarization and entanglement) of…
The black-body radiation is reinterpreted in terms of the photon's many-body wave functions in analogy with the condensed matter physics. This interpretation has implications on the wave-particle duality, and on the difference between the…
It is suggested that a moving canonical particle interacts with a vacuum regarded as a "soft" cellular space. The interaction results into the emergence of elementary excitations of space - inertons - surrounding the particle. It is assumed…
The photoeffect, (vacuum analogue of the photoelectric effect,) is used to study the structure of the physical vacuum, the outcome of which is the basis for an hypothesis on the nature of gravitation and inertia. The source of gravitation…
The Bialynicki-Birula-Sipe photon wave function formalism is extended to include the interaction between photons and continuous non-absorptive media. When the second quantization of this formalism is introduced, a new way of describing the…
A source of entangled photons that emits one, and only one, pair of photons on demand has now been realized in a semiconductor chip. The solid-state source will be a useful resource for experiments in optical quantum information.
Electromagnetic waves propagate with the speed of light. The reason is that electrostatic fields as well as magnetic fields propagate with this speed. Both types of objects, waves as well as static fields contain and transport energy.…
Standard pedagogy introduces optics as though it were a consequence of Maxwell's equations, and only grudgingly admits, usually in a rushed aside, that light has a particulate character that can somehow be reconciled with the wave picture.…
Intuition from our everyday lives gives rise to the belief that information exchanged between remote parties is carried by physical particles. Surprisingly, in a recent theoretical study [Salih H, Li ZH, Al-Amri M, Zubairy MS (2013) Phys…
We experimentally observe that quantum duality of a single photon is controlled by its self-entanglement through a three-way quantum coherence identity $V^2+D^2+C^2=1$. Here V, D, C represent waveness, particleness, and self-entanglement…
The dynamics of a quantum particle is governed by its wavefunction, which in turn is determined by the classical potential to which it is subjected. However the wavefunction itself induces a quantum potential, the particle `sees' the sum of…
The interference phenomenon of light is a common but most important effect in physics. In this article, we compare and analyse the interference effects of both coherent and incoherent light; in particular, the interference of spatially…
Although quantum mechanics is one of our most successful physical theories, there has been a long-standing debate about the interpretation of the wave function---the central object of the theory. Two prominent views are that (i) it…
Simple arguments based on uncertainty principle and Dirac's equation are examined which show that electron behaves either as a point-like charge or as an extended distribution according as high- or low-energy experiments are considered.