Related papers: Is the Photon Really a Particle? V.2
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…
In spite of its outstanding success, quantum mechanics remains mysterious, many problems such as wave/particle dualism and quantum nonlocality remain open. Because a particle, e.g. a photon, is a quantum of a corresponding quantum field, an…
The ether can "explain" certain questionable "quantum realities" in which single, isolated photons form a diffraction pattern in a two-slit apparatus; and, similarly, single, isolated electrons form a diffraction pattern in the equivalent…
We consider the forces exerted by a pulse of plane-wave light on a single atom. The leading edge of the pulse exerts a dispersive force on the atom, and this modifies the atomic momentum while the atom is enveloped in the light. The…
Two-photon interference is a fundamental phenomenon in quantum mechanics and stands at the base of numerous experimental observations. Here another manifestation of this phenomenon is described, taking place at a Y junction. Specifically it…
We derive from first principles the momentum exchange between a photon and a quantum mirror upon reflection, by considering the boundary conditions imposed by the mirror surface on the photon wave equation. We show that the system generally…
The Einstein-First project approaches the teaching of Einsteinian physics through the use of physical models and analogies. This paper presents an approach to the teaching of quantum physics which begins by emphasising the particle-nature…
There are a number of experiments and observations that appear to argue for the existence of particles, including the photoelectric and Compton effects, exposure of only one film grain by a spread-out photon wave function, and particle-like…
Are quantum states real? This most fundamental question in quantum mechanics has not yet been satisfactorily resolved, although its realistic interpretation seems to have been rejected by various delayed-choice experiments. Here, to address…
According to the scientific literature, the momentum of a photon in a simple linear dielectric is either $\hbar\omega/(nc)$ or $n\hbar\omega/c$ with a unit vector ${\bf \hat e}_k$ in the direction of propagation. These momentums are…
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.…
The Compton effect is commonly cited as a demonstration of the particle feature of light, while the wave nature of matter has been proposed by de Broglie and demonstrated by Davisson and Germer with the Bragg diffraction of electron beams.…
We propose the idea that not all energy is a source of gravity. We discuss the role of energy in the theory of gravitation and provide a formulation of gravity which takes into account the quantum nature of the source. We show that gravity…
The nature of intrinsic/extrinsic character of angular momentum is defined in terms of the kind of the associated rotational energy of the light. The salient features of the spin energy of light and photon are highlighted. Spin angular…
Since the particles such as molecules, atoms and nuclei are composite particles, it is important to recognize that physics must be invariant for the composite particles and their constituent particles, this requirement is called particle…
A classical circularly polarized electromagnetic wave carries angular momentum, and represents the classical limit of a photon, which carries quantized spin. It is shown that a very similar picture of a circularly polarized coherent wave…
A quantum mechanics representation based on position ($\vec{r}$), linear momentum($\vec{p}$) and energy($E$) eigenvalues is presented here. A set of equations, explicitly independent on wave function, was derived relating these observables.…
An interpretation of an electromagnetic quantum as a single pulse is suggested. In this context the Planck formula is shown to be equivalent to the Heisenberg time-energy uncertainty relation. This allows to treat the photon frequency as an…
The interaction of a single-photon wave packet with an initially excited two-level atom in free space is studied in semiclassical and quantum approaches. It is shown that the final state of the field does not contain doubly occupied modes.…
We recently performed experiments on the transfer of photon spin to electron orbital angular momentum. For an interpretation of the experimental results we used a classical electrodynamic model of the photon as a propagating electromagnetic…