In a number of notes (Parts I,II,III) we considered the problem of photons A moving in the positive x direction striking a medium at x=0 and reflecting B and refracting C. In (1) conservation of energy: I(A)/c1 = I(B)/c1 + I(C)/c2 ((1)), where I(A) is intensity which has the form of energy * velocity i.e. a flux, is given. Thus I(A)/c1 = n1 E , I(B)=n2 E and I(C)=n3 E, where E is constant energy of a photon and ni are the number of photons. Conservation of energy/or photon is a conservation law in terms of “particles” and is furthermore a time averaged result. A single photon either reflects or refracts. In both cases conservation of particle number and energy exists and so one may wonder why one needs a time averaged “particle” type conservation equation in the first place. We argue that it demonstrates the role of flux in this problem - a role which differs from that of hydrodynamics in classical physics. ((1)) shows immediately that there is neither conservation of flux i.e. I(A) values or momentum even in a steady state scenario (i.e. time averaged scenario) represented by ((1)). This is different from an incompressible liquid moving from a wide pipe to a narrow one. In such a case flux is conserved yet microscopic particles change velocity, momentum and energy. As noted in Part I, one may write: I(A)/c1 - I(B)/c1 = I(C)/c2 , multiply by E (energy) and use E=pc. This yields a “kind” of momentum conservation equation, but not in terms of particle numbers (i.e. not in a particle picture). Rather I(A)p is momentum multiplied by flux which is unusual. ((1)) is a conservation of particle number and energy, but does not include conservation of flux or momentum flux which one might expect in a steady state flow equation and which appears in classical fluid dynamics. As noted in Part I to obtain these additional conservation/balance equations one is forced to use square root probabilities i.e. I(A)=AA with A representing a square root flux or dynamic probability. Using the idea of differences of squares, one may write: A + B = C ((2a)) and Ap1 -p1B = p2C ((2b)) and solve for B and C in terms of A. In other words a hydrodynamical approach applies to the square root probabilities A,B,C and not to I(A)=AA etc. Ultimately squaring, one obtains I(A),I(B) and I(C) showing that the square root probability or wave/dynamical probability represents balance and conservation. In ((2a)) and ((2b)) i.e. with square root probabilities one has dropped the view of particles and changed to a square root flux/ new dynamical probability picture together with its balances. This is in fact the wave picture because A,B,C are linked with exp(ip1x),exp(-ip1x) and exp(ip2x) (which for photons are associated with the wave picture of the electric and magnetic fields). Thus even though there is particle wave duality, in terms of conservation waves (square root probabilities) yield particle conservation equations. For example, it is the wave picture which allows one to solve for B and C in terms of A. The wave picture may be associated with a steady state (time removed) equilibrium scenario in which dynamical (square root) probabilities add in space (not by time grouping) and it contains both conservation of probability and momentum probability while momentum (of the particles) may not be conserved in the particle picture as is the case for the reflection/refraction problem. Particle number/energy are also guaranteed.
In a number of notes (Parts I,II,III) we considered the problem of photons A moving in the positive x direction striking a medium at x=0 and reflecting B and refracting C. In (1) conservation of energy: I(A)/c1 = I(B)/c1 + I(C)/c2 ((1)), where I(A) is intensity which has the form of energy * velocity i.e. a flux, is given. Thus I(A)/c1 = n1 E , I(B)=n2 E and I(C)=n3 E, where E is constant energy of a photon and ni are the number of photons. Conservation of energy/or photon is a conservation law in terms of “particles” and is furthermore a time averaged result. A single photon either reflects or refracts. In both cases conservation of particle number and energy exists and so one may wonder why one needs a time averaged “particle” type conservation equation in the first place. We argue that it demonstrates the role of flux in this problem - a role which differs from that of hydrodynamics in classical physics. ((1)) shows immediately that there is neither conservation of flux i.e. I(A) values or momentum even in a steady state scenario (i.e. time averaged scenario) represented by ((1)). This is different from an incompressible liquid moving from a wide pipe to a narrow one. In such a case flux is conserved yet microscopic particles change velocity, momentum and energy. As noted in Part I, one may write: I(A)/c1 - I(B)/c1 = I(C)/c2 , multiply by E (energy) and use E=pc. This yields a “kind” of momentum conservation equation, but not in terms of particle numbers (i.e. not in a particle picture). Rather I(A)p is momentum multiplied by flux which is unusual. ((1)) is a conservation of particle number and energy, but does not include conservation of flux or momentum flux which one might expect in a steady state flow equation and which appears in classical fluid dynamics. As noted in Part I to obtain these additional conservation/balance equations one is forced to use square root probabilities i.e. I(A)=AA with A representing a square root flux or dynamic probability. Using the idea of differences of squares, one may write: A + B = C ((2a)) and Ap1 -p1B = p2C ((2b)) and solve for B and C in terms of A. In other words a hydrodynamical approach applies to the square root probabilities A,B,C and not to I(A)=AA etc. Ultimately squaring, one obtains I(A),I(B) and I(C) showing that the square root probability or wave/dynamical probability represents balance and conservation. In ((2a)) and ((2b)) i.e. with square root probabilities one has dropped the view of particles and changed to a square root flux/ new dynamical probability picture together with its balances. This is in fact the wave picture because A,B,C are linked with exp(ip1x),exp(-ip1x) and exp(ip2x) (which for photons are associated with the wave picture of the electric and magnetic fields). Thus even though there is particle wave duality, in terms of conservation waves (square root probabilities) yield particle conservation equations. For example, it is the wave picture which allows one to solve for B and C in terms of A. The wave picture may be associated with a steady state (time removed) equilibrium scenario in which dynamical (square root) probabilities add in space (not by time grouping) and it contains both conservation of probability and momentum probability while momentum (of the particles) may not be conserved in the particle picture as is the case for the reflection/refraction problem. Particle number/energy are also guaranteed.
Note Dec. 8, 2022: B in A+B=C and p1A-p1B=p2C is negative for n1<n2 where n is the index of refraction. Both equations i.e. probability conservation and average momentum conservation are involved in this result i.e. B/A = (c2-c1)/(c1+c2) (1). In Parts I and II we considered the problem of a beam of light A moving in the positive x direction striking a medium at x=0 and reflecting B and refracting C. This is a probabilistic problem because a single photon has a probability to reflect and another to refract. We also noted that conservation of energy holds i.e. I(A)/c1 = I(B)/c1 + I(C)/c2 where I(A),I(B) and I(C) >0 are intensities . The goal is to find I(B) and I(C) given I(A), but there is only one equation and two unknowns. In Part I we argued that an energy conservation equation incorporates two equations representing square root type probabilities. In Part II we argued that a physical motivation for such a situation may be that in a steady state case, one has dynamic directional probabilities not just static ones. The static/classical probability is associated with the conservation of energy and groups by time i.e an incident beam exists during one time range and reflected and refracted beams during another. One, however, may create a steady state system so that all three beams exist at the same time, although the reflected and refracted beams at any instant are the result of incident photons which hit the medium at an earlier time. A steady state system should not rely on time, but still contains probabilities. There is thus no reason to group by time, but rather one groups by space with the incident and reflected beams in one region and the refracted in another. Introducing space grouped dynamic probabilities A,B,C one may write (using conservation of probability and average momentum): A+B = C ((1a)) and p1A -p1B = p2C ((1b)) where p1=n1p and p2=n2p and c1=c/n 1 and c2=c/n2. The second equation has the appearance of a conservation of energy equation if one places the term -p1B on the RHS. The problem is that A+B=C implies B must be negative if n1<n2. Thus dynamic probabilities may be negative (which is unusual) and the second equation cannot be conservation of energy although it is of the correct form. In Part II we noted one may multiply the two equations together and by using a difference of squares preserve the form of an energy conservation equation which now has AA, BB and CC terms which are necessarily positive and may be identified with I(A),I(B) and I(C). In this note we wish to consider the consequences of B being negative. This we suggest implies A and B interfere so that A+B yields a number smaller than A i.e. C for n1<n2. As a result the negative value of B allows for conservation of probability (or photons). At first this may seem a mathematical convenience, but the two equations ((1a)) and ((1b)) lead to physical consequences, namely the probabilities BB and CC in terms of AA. We thus speculate that there might be a physical mechanism associated with the minus value of B, the reflected ray. This physical property (which should exist for individual photons) ensures conservation of probability. If one considers a glass wedge (or thin film) in air one has reflection from the glass (n1<n2) bringing in a minus sign in B (for conservation with the incident beam). The refracted beam becomes the new incident beam within the glass and reflects at an n1>n2 interface so B’ is not negative. B and B’ may now interfere (depending on the thickness of the wedge) creating an interference pattern which must conserve probability overall. In general one would expect B and B’ to be independent, but each carries conservation of probability information (in a physical form) and this information is different causing interference to occur.
If one considers the reflection/refraction of a steady stream of photons moving in the positive x direction and striking an n1=1 versus n2 interface along the y axis at x=0, one may immediately write a conservation of photon number equation i.e. N(incoming) = N(reflected) + N(refracted) ((1)). This equation, however, does not shed any light on the ratio of N(reflected) to N(refracted) for a given N(incoming). One may also notice that no information about the index of refraction is included. This information manifests itself in: E= p1 c/n1 = p2 c/n2. Taking ((1)) and multiplying by e (photon energy) yields a conservation of energy equation. In both the cases of photon number and energy conservation there is no notion of flux. Taking the energy conservation equation and writing e=p1c1 or e=p2c2 yields an equation relating momenta (proportional to impulses), but this equation involves dynamics i.e. fluxes i.e. c1, c2 values. Thus it is not on the same footing as the photon number or energy conservation equations. We argue that there should exist an impulse balance type equation which does not depend on flux. We suggest this is a key physical idea. (For example, the two-slit interference pattern of p=m1v1=m2v2 are the same.) As a result, the single equation ((1)) is not sufficient for solving the problem. To solve the problem, one needs to recast ((1)) in terms of flux (a notion which exists classically) divided by ci (speed of light) so that one obtains the number of photons. By having 1/c1 appear in the equation, one may multiply by e so that e/ci = pi. One then has the equation: AA/c1 = BB/c1 + CC/c2 ((2)) where AA=incoming flux, BB=reflected flux and CC refracted flux. One must change from a static picture of counting photons to a flux picture, but divide fluxes by ci’s to regain the static picture. Incoming flux is written as AA to indicate it is positive etc. ((2)) still does not solve for B and C in terms of A and n1,n2, but one may bring BB/c1 to the LHS and break ((2)) into two equations using differences of squares. Thus one has an A+B=C equation which is like a nonflux balance of probability or energy (if one multiplies by e) and a static momentum/impulse balance equation pA-pB= p2 C. Solving the problem involves creating not only time independent photon number/energy balance, but also time-independent photon momentum/impulse balance. We argue that the breaking of ((2)) into two equations introduces the notion of quantum mechanics because one uses “square roots” of flux probability. One may ask why one does not simply find a second equation in addition to the photon number/energy balance equation. We argue that the single number balance equation contains all of the necessary information in the problem i.e. flux, photon number, energy or p’s and c’s. Thus a second equation would not be independent. As a result, one must break the single photon balance equation into two independent equations leading to a different kind of physical balance i.e. one involving square roots of fluxes instead of fluxes i.e. quantum mechanics.
Note: Dec. 28, 2022 The form exp(-iEt)exp(ipx) for both the photon and a particle with rest mass may be obtained from the Lorentz in variant -Et+px=A by noting that -id/dx A = p and that exp(ipx) is an eigenfunction of exp(ipx). In a series of notes we have considered the problem of light moving in the positive x direction hitting a medium along the y axis at x=0 and reflecting and refracting. We assumed that light is of the form of a photon which has an energy E which is the same in the incident, reflected and refracted beams. We also considered the notion of a steady state stream. Given a single photon in the incident beam, it has a probability a to reflect and 1-a to refract. As discussed in previous notes, one may consider an intensity AA, BB, CC for the incident, reflected and refracted rays (AA>0 etc) and write energy conservation as: AA/c1 = BB/c1 + CC/c2 where c1 is the speed of light in medium 1 and c2 in medium 2. We noted that the energy conservation equation has two unknowns B,C if A is known, but may be broken into two equations if one considers time removed from the problem (i.e steady state) and one groups by space i.e. (AA/c1 -BB/c1) = CC/c2 i.e. A+B=C and A/c1 -B/c1=C/c2. One may note that one does not have a conservation of flux/intensity equation, but that flux/intenisty which physically exists is directly linked to energy conservation. One may also note that one does not have an equation of energy flux conservation. In this note, we consider the dispersion relationship of light E=pc and the notion of a continuity equation which applies to the “square root” probabilities. We consider exp(-iEt+ipx) as the simplest solution, other than a constant and speculate whether exp(ipx) for a steady state picture represents a kind of square root flux. The idea of a square root flux suggests two sets of equations with square root fluxes which may be multiplied to create a flux equation. exp(ipx) has a kind of wavelike structure with two dimensions and may interfere. It also maps to a constant flux through exp(-ipx)exp(ipx). We consider these ideas and conclude that the wavefunction is like a square root flux which helps to associate a picture with the idea of it being a dynamical probability. This is helpful when considering a W(r vector) not equal to W(r) i.e. not spherically symmetric. This suggests unbalanced flux and rotation. In quantum mechanics, one does not have a container and so the fluxes create a static-appearing density in the bound case.
In Part I we considered light moving in the positive x direction stiking a medium with a different index of refraction with some reflecting and the rest refracting. We argued one may immediately write a conservation of energy equation, but this is a single equation while there are two unknowns, the intensity of the reflected beam and the refracted, assuming the incident intensity is known. (We also argued that one also has the relation E=pc for a photon, but this is not needed to solve for the two intensities.) Our main point was that instead of seeking another independent equation (containing new information), one may write the conservation of energy equation as a product of two equations A+ B=C ((1a)) and A/c1 -B/c1 = C/c2 ((1b)) where AA/c1 = BB/c1 + CC/c2 is the energy conservation equation. Thus energy conservation contains all of the information needed, but one must move to a square root of probability picture in order to obtain the two equations needed to solve for the reflected and refracted values B,C and then the intensities BB and CC. In Part I, we noted that the reflection/refraction problem may be presented as a steady state one in which the scenario is not changing in time. A Maxwell-Boltzmann gas in equilibrium also does not change in time, but here there is a difference, namely a lack of time reversal invariance. In other words there is a distinct direction of motion i.e. the incident and refracted beams move in the positive direction only and the reflected in the negative x. The problem, however, is also a probabilistic one because given a single photon, it either reflects or refracts with certain probabilities. Thus we suggest there exists in this physical steady state problem a dynamic or directional probability. This probability is related to space and may be positive or negative unlike the usual time probabilities linked to events i.e. classical probability theory. The conservation of energy equation is a classical probability one, but dynamic motion probabilities are present in the problem and should also be manifest in equations. In fact the two dynamic probability equations allow for the solving of the reflected/refracted intensities (probabilities), but are also directly linked to the conservation of energy equation which may be written as: AA/c1 -BB/c1 = CC/c2 which points towards flow in two different directions. Thus we argue that a dynamic directional probability is responsible for the decomposition of the energy conservation equation into two dynamic probability ones.
Quantum mechanics is known for its “square root” probability i.e. the existence of a wavefunction W(x) such that P(x) = W*(x)W(x). This begs the question: Why is this the case? In Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory of the photon, a similar situation arises except that one has energy density instead of P(x) which consists of .5C1 Electric field* Electric field + .5c2 Magnetic field*Magnetic field. The “square root” object is a physical observable (Electric field, Magnetic field) which both behave as cos(-Et+px) and so, more accessible than W(x). Alternatively one may use Fermat’s least time principle for light to show that i two dimensional problems (reflection/refraction) d/dx (used in extremization) is really the operator of momentum in that direction i.e. a spatial invariant direction. Thus A=px such that dA/dx=p = x component of momentum which may be generalized to A=-Et+p dot r. (p.r) may be written as -i ln(exp(ip dot r) with exp(i p dot r) representing a “kind of probability”. This probability may be considered a square root probability because for uniform motion (light) all x points along a ray should have equal probability. Thus exp(i p dot r) maps into a constant which happens if one takes the modulus. Both of the above approaches (using continuity at x or a kind of conservation of probability and a momentum) may be used to solve the problem of an incident beam of light moving in the positive x direction hitting a medium and both reflecting and refracting. For example see (1). The goal is to find the two intensity values associated with the reflected and refracted beams assuming the incident intensity is known. In this note, we take a different approach to finding the two unknowns, one that does not use the idea of the electric field proportional to cos(-Et+px) or the probability exp(ipx). We wish to solve the problem using only the idea of information and stress the importance of beginning with energy conservation a priori unlike the two approaches listed above. We postulate that there are two sets of information in this problem. First there is the notion of Energy = p(momentum in a vacuum) n c/n where n is the index of refraction. Thus the incident and reflected light are associated with pc1,c1 and the refracted with pc2, c2 with energy being the same for all. Second there is the idea of conservation of energy i.e. if ten photons with energy E hit the surface and a10 reflect and (1-a)10 refract, then the sum of the refracted and reflected energy equals the initial energy. Energy is then equated with intensity through Intensity/c = energy (1). Using only these two pieces of information we argue one should be able to find the intensity of both the reflected and refracted ray. This leads to an immediate problem because there are two unknowns and only one equation, namely conservation of energy i.e. I(A)/c1 = I(B)/c1 + I(C)/c2 where A is the incident beam, B the reflected and C the refracted. Writing as: I(A)/c1 - I(B)/c1 = I(C)/c2 (i.e. a spatial instead of time grouping) suggests a possible solution might be to employ a difference of squares noting that 1/c = p/E with E being a constant in the problem. Thus one may reduce the problem to A+B=C and p1A-p1B=p2C. This is of the form of a new kind of “square root” type probability, but leads to two equations with two unknowns (A is assumed to be known) which allows the problem to be solved.
In classical statistical mechanics, e.g. a Maxwell-Boltzman (MB) gas, one calculates pressure by multiplying 2p (impulse) by v (velocity or flux). This is done because one has multiple particles and so flux is important. One needs to know how many particles strike a surface per sec as well as their impulse. What happens if one has a single photon (or particle)? This is not a steady stream situation, although one may create a corresponding steady stream situation. In particular, a single photon moving in the positive x direction may reach an interface of two media with different indices of refraction and either reflect or refract. In such a case one has a probability to reflect and one to refract which add to 1. Thus there are two unknowns (i.e. the two probabilities) and energy stays constant. One may immediately write a conservation of energy equation and apply it to a steady state scenario. This necessarily utilizes the idea of velocity because there is a flux. This energy conservation equation may be rearranged to give the appearance of a pressure balance equation which also depends on velocity i.e. flux. The problem is that conservation of energy or pressure balance is a single equation and there are two unknowns. One may not simply say that the probability to reflect is .5 and that to refract .5. In fact, in a previous note (1) we solved this problem using the idea of writing the energy equation in terms of two equations linked to differences of squares. We suggested that these two equations which only involve weights are linked to a function which together with its first derivative is continuous at x=0 .In (2) we suggested that the x-distributions cos(px) and sin(px) represent action-reaction impulse type distributions. We argued that an impulse creates momentum p in the first place and that this “impulse”, in the form of x-distributions, is still present because the object may strike a foil and impart impulse at any time. Furthermore, because cos(px) and sin(px) are probability distributions, there is no sense of time within a wavelength. On average, however, the object moves with a constant velocity. In the case of light it is c/n where n is the index of refraction and in the case of a nonrelativistic particle p/mo. The example of a single photon either reflecting or refracting allows one to formulate the problem in terms of impulse i.e in terms of the probability distribution scheme such that one does not have time and hence velocity. This scheme requires two equations. This impulse based x-probability distribution scheme or quantum mechanical approach, however, should map into the classical pressure balance because on average a photon does move as x=c/n t which it does. It is, however, the quantum approach (impulse picture with no time or velocity within a wavelength) which solves the problem i.e. yields the probability to reflect or refract which may then be linked to classical type (steady stream intensities and flux.