The status of the photon in the modern physics was analysed. Within the frames of the Standard Model of particle physics the photon is considered to be the genuine elementary particle, being to be the messenger of the electromagnetic interaction to which are subject charged particles. In contrast, the experts in quantum electodynamics (in particular, in quantum optics) insist, that the description of an photon to be the particle is impossible. The given viewpoint was carefully analysed and its falseness was proved. The expression for a photon wave function is presented. So, the status of the photon in quantum electodynamics was restored. The physics of a quantum absorption process is analysed. It is argued in accordance with Dirac guess, that the photon revival takes place by its absorption. Being to be a soliton, it seems to be keeping safe after an energy absorption in a pinned state, possessing the only by spin. It is shown, that the time of the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state is finite and moreover, that it can govern the stationary signal registered. The given result is significant for the all stationary spectroscopy, in which at present the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state is considered to be instantaneous.
The status of the photon in the modern physics was analysed. Within the frames of the Standard Model of particle physics the photon is considered to be the genuine elementary particle, being to be the messenger of the electromagnetic interaction to which are subject charged particles. In contrast, the experts in quantum electodynamics (in particular, in quantum optics) insist, that the description of an photon to be the particle is impossible. The given viewpoint was carefully analysed and its falseness was proved. The expression for a photon wave function is presented. So, the status of the photon in quantum electodynamics was restored. The physics of a quantum absorption process is analysed. It is argued in accordance with Dirac guess, that the photon revival takes place by its absorption. Being to be a soliton, it seems to be keeping safe after an energy absorption in a pinned state, possessing the only by spin. It is shown, that the time of the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state is finite and moreover, that it can govern the stationary signal registered. The given result is significant for the all stationary spectroscopy, in which at present the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state is considered to be instantaneous.
Aims/ objectives: The consideration of the three tasks, formulated below, is the aim of the given work. The first task of the paper presented is to analyse the existing viewpoints and to give the conclusion on the real photon status. To represent the clear and understandable explanation of the nature of the corpuscular-wave dualism and to give an insight into physics of the photon absorption process is the second task of the given review. The third task of the paper presented - to give the experimental proof for the Dirac theoretical conclusion, that the transitions of the quantum system from an equilibrium state to an excited state are not instantaneous and that a part of the time, related to a duration of the stay between the states can be determined. Study design: The theory of quantum Fermi liquid, the developed Dirac quantisation method, the theory of quantum Rabi oscillations and experimental results of the stationary electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy were used. Place and Duration of Study: Heat-Mass Transfer Institute of National Academy of Sciences of RB, Belarusian State University and M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, between January 2014 and July 2014. Methodology: We have used the quantum 1D Fermi liquid model for the description of 1D correlated electronic systems, elaborated in the application to the quantised electromagnetic (EM) field, the Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM) of quantum Rabi oscillations, new Slepyan-Yerchak- Hoffmann-Bass model of propagating quantum Rabi oscillations and new fully quantum space-time quantisation method. Results: The status of the photon in the modern physics is analysed. In the physics of elementary particles the photon is considered to be the genuine elementary particle. The development of the viewpoint of the experts in the quantum electrodynamics theory is considered. It was established its change from the opinion, that the description of the photon to be the particle is impossible to the viewpoint on the photon to be the particle, that is, coinciding with the viewpoint, represented in the Standard Model of the physics of elementary particles. The quantized Maxwellian EM-field represents itself, according to the new conceptual model reviewed, the sets of 1D rays, the own structure of each ray is discrete - 1D-lattice of spin-1 bosons. Therefore, the structure of EM-field in boson model resembles the structure of the carbon frame of organic polymers like to trans-polyacetylene in the matter. Photons in the given concept are the corpuscles, propagating along EM-field boson-”atomic” chains. In other words, EM-field boson- ”atomic” chains represents themselves the medium for the photons’ propagation. In the structural aspect photons in usual conditions are chargeless spin 1/2 topological relativistic solitons of Su- Schrieffer-Heeger family. Spinless charged solitons of the same family can also be formed in socalled ”doped” EM-field structure. The origin of waves in the EM-field boson-”atomic” structure is determined by the mechanism, being to be quite analogous to the formation of Bloch waves in the solid state of condensed matter. The expression for the corresponding wave function representing itself the set of Bloch-like waves is given. Just, the given function allows to describe correctly the wave properties of the light, including the interference. Corpuscular properties of EM-field including those ones by its interaction with matter are described by independent scalar field function obtained from the solution of Schr¨odinger equation [nonstationary in general case] and usually called wave function. The term ”wave” seems to be incorrect in application to the given function and has to be corrected in all literature on quantum theory, including textbooks. The physics of quantum absorption process is analysed. It is argued, in accordance with Dirac guess, that the photon revival takes place by its absorption. It is concluded, that after the energy and impulse transfer to the absorbing system the photon state is a pinned state, in which it possesses the only by spin. The reviewed rather unusual spectroscopic electron spin resonance absorption characteristics of carbon nanotubes and superconducting ceramics, obtained with the participation of the authors and of the other research groups and being earlier unexplained, were correctly interpreted within the frames of the phenomenological model of the spectroscopic transition dynamics with finite time of the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state. Moreover, it was established, that the time of the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state governs the characteristics of the stationary ESR signal registered in the carbon nanotubes and superconducting ceramics. Conclusion: To describe correctly the EM-field properties including corpuscular-wave dualism [which is explained in a natural way] it is necessary to use the full variant of Schr¨ odinger’s theory, taking into consideration two scalar functions. The result, that the time of the transfer of absorbing systems into an excited state governs the characteristics of the stationary ESR signal is significant for the stationary spectroscopy at all, since the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state is considered in the stationary spectroscopy at present to be instantaneous.
For the case of interaction of polarized light with an analyzer (a polarizing device), an experimental scheme based on the Feynman idea of path integrals is proposed. Real and virtual photons are considered in the context of the Lenz rule (in terms of constructive and destructive induction). The Planck formula for the photon energy in the format of a verbal description is considered. The complexity of identifying the wave description of the photon with the ideas of the Ancient Greeks about elementary particles is shown. From the point of view of chronogeometry, it is shown that the stationary observer does not exist at the point of intersection of the cone of the past and the future, but in the time interval separating these regions. It is proposed to consider the fluctuations of the physical vacuum as a relic of the process of permanent inflation according to Linde. Based on the assumption of the self-measurement of the Universe, the quantum Zeno effect, and Hawking’s idea of the Universe being a quantum object with the Nth sum of Feynman stories, it is assumed that the history of the Universe is deterministic. From the perspective of the orthogonality of the electromagnetic field vectors E and B, the Heisenberg equation of the form Δp × Δx = ħ/2 is considered. A thought experiment is considered showing the complexity in describing the interaction of a photon with an electron of an atom from the point of view of the classical interaction of an electromagnetic wave with an antenna device. It is proposed to consider the absorption of a photon by an electron as its inertial collapse on an atom.
Introduction Electromagnetic interactions play a central role in low-energy physics, chemistry, and biology. They are responsible for the cohesion of atoms and molecules and are at the origin of the emission and absorption of light by such systems. They can be described in terms of absorptions and emissions of photons by charged particles or by systems of charged particles like atoms and molecules. Photons are the energy quanta associated with a light beam. Since the discoveries of Planck and Einstein at the beginning of the last century, we know that a plane light wave with frequency ν , propagating along a direction defined by the unit vector u , can also be considered as a beam of photons with energy E = hν and linear momentum p = ( h ν/ c ) u . We shall see later on that these photons also have an angular momentum along u depending on the polarization of the associated light wave. Conservation laws are very useful for understanding the consequences of atom–photon interactions. They express that the total energy, the total linear momentum, and the total angular momentum are conserved when the atom emits or absorbs a photon. Consider for example the conservation of the total energy. Quantum mechanics tells us that the energy of an atom cannot take any value. It is quantized, the possible values of the energy forming a discrete set E a , E b , E c , . . . In an emission process, the atom goes from an upper energy level E b to a lower one E a and emits a photon with energy h ν. Conservation of the total energy requires The energy lost by the atom on going from E b to E a is carried away by the photon.
The quantum nature of light enables potentially revolutionary communication technologies. A key to advancing this area of research is a clear understanding of the concepts of states, modes, fields, and photons. The concept of field modes carries over from classical optics, while the concept of state has to be considered carefully when treating light quantum mechanically. The term "photon" is an overloaded identifier in the sense that it is often used to refer to either a quantum particle or the state of a field. This overloading, often used without placing it in context, has the potential to obfuscate the physical processes that describe the reality we measure. We review the uses and relationships between these concepts using modern quantum optics theory, including the concept of a photon wave function, the modern history of which was moved forward in a groundbreaking paper in this journal by Iwo Białynicki-Birula, to whom this article is dedicated.
Preface Foreword Instead of introduction: in classical physics there is no analogy of particles interference. When a quantum-particle passes only one of the two opened slits, the interference disappears Photon and soliton: the expressions for the energy of the photon and the energy of classical electromagnetic waves are completely different and cannot be derived from one another Uncertainties: when a monochromatic wave is passed through a shutter with a very short opening time, the light after the shutter is no more monochromatic Initial conditions and probabilities: spontaneous decays are chance events. They do not depend on prehistory or any other factors Stimulated gamma quanta emission: the relations between the coefficients of Einstein for stimulated emission and absorption are valid for all transitions Gamma lasers and very narrow Mossbauer gamma line: it is impossible to build a gamma laser using a transition between a very long living and a very short living excited state Electromagnetic energy density at low and high temperature: forbidden transitions in gaseous nebulae emit photons only because of inverse population The science is screened behind the observable: only observable quantities are real and have a meaning The common wave function is screened behind the mathematical possibilities:the wave function is not real but statistical Quantum physics and classical thermodynamics: quantum physics is a complete science Index.
It has been observed that every photon is, in a sense, virtual - being emitted and then sooner or later absorbed. As the motif of a quantum radiation state, the photon shares these characteristics of any virtual state: that it is not directly observable; and that it can signify only one of a number of indeterminable intermediates, between matter states that are directly measurable. Nonetheless, other traits of real and virtual behavior are usually quite clearly differentiable. How 'real', then, is the photon? To address this and related questions it is helpful to look in detail at the quantum description of light emission and absorption. A straightforward analysis of the dynamic electric field, based on quantum electro-dynamics, reveals not only the entanglement of energy transfer mechanisms usually regarded as 'radiative' and 'radiationless'; it also gives significant physical insights into several other electromagnetic topics. These include: the propagating and non-propagating character in electromagnetic fields; near-zone and wave-zone effects; transverse and longitudinal character; the effects of retardation, manifestations of quantum uncertainty and issues of photon spin. As a result it is possible to gain a clearer perspective on when, or whether, the terms 'real' and 'virtual' are helpful descriptors of the photon.