Related papers: Is the Photon Really a Particle? V.2
Wave-particle duality is one of the most intriguing counterfactual concepts in quantum theory. In our common sense, the wave and particle properties of a quantum object are inseparable. However, the recent studies based on Quantum Cheshire…
Wave-particle duality, wave function collapse, objective probability and nonlocality constitute four prominent puzzles in modern physics. Although these four topics may appear unrelated, a closer examination reveals that they do share some…
The interaction of light with a single two-level emitter is the most fundamental process in quantum optics, and is key to many quantum applications. As a distinctive feature, two photons are never detected simultaneously in the light…
Under certain conditions the number of photons radiated classically by a charged particle following a prescribed trajectory can be finite. An interesting formula for this number is presented and discussed.
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…
It is currently believed that light quantum or the quantization of light energy is beyond classical physics and the picture of wave-particle duality, which was criticized by Einstein but attracted a number of experimental researches, is…
The special theory of relativity does not predict the existence of photons (quanta of electromagnetic radiation). However, it is demonstrated here that it follows from the special theory of relativity that if photons do exist---and we know…
The physical states of matter and fields are represented in the quantum theory with complex valued wavefunctions, or more generally by quantum states in an abstract linear vector space. Determining the physical nature of wavefunctions…
A charged particle passing through or by an optical fiber induces emission of light guided by the fiber. The formula giving the spontaneous emission amplitude are given in the general case when the particle trajectory is not parallel to the…
The propagation of photon in a dielectric may be described with the help of the scalar and vector potentials of the medium. The main novelty of the paper is that the concept of the vector potential (which is connected with the velocity of…
The light front densities of momentum, angular momentum, and intrinsic pressure are calculated for the photon, both in the free case and at leading order in quantum electrodynamics. In the latter case, we moreover decompose the form factors…
The observed astrophysical phenomenon of dark matter has generated new interest in the problem of whether the principles underlying QFT are consistent with invisibility/inertness of energy-momentum carrying "stuff" as e.g. "unparticles". We…
Classically, electromagnetic pulses are described by real fields that couple to charged matter and propagate causally. We will show here that real fields of the form used in standard classical electromagnetic theory have a quantum…
A new look at the so-called effect of an accelerating matter is presented. It was previously stated that the effect is optical in nature and consists in changing the frequency of the wave passing through a refractive sample moving with…
The weak value, introduced by Aharonov et al. to extend the conventional scope of physical observables in quantum mechanics, is an intriguing concept which sheds new light on quantum foundations and is also useful for precision measurement,…
At the primary level of reality as described by quantum field theory, a fundamental particle like an electron represents a stable, discrete, propagating excited state of its underlying quantum field. QFT also tells us that the lowest vacuum…
The most puzzling issue in the foundations of quantum mechanics is perhaps that of the status of the wave function of a system in a quantum universe. Is the wave function objective or subjective? Does it represent the physical state of the…
In this article we try to describe the physics of a standard optical interferometer fed by "quantum" photons in terms of primitive, nevertheless accurate formulation. We derive explicit interferene patterns and show how they vary depending…
The guiding and transport of energy, for example of electromagnetic waves underpins many technologies that have shaped modern society, ranging from long distance optical fibre telecommunications to on-chip optical processors. Traditionally,…
Today, the nature of light is accounted for by one of the jewels of physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED), the fundamental theory of light and matter. Yet owing to its infinite complexity, scientists still debate how its central concept,…