Institute of Physics eBooks
Quantum nature of light
Muhammad Sabieh Anwar, Faizan-e-Ilahi, Syed Bilal Hyder, Muhammad Hamza Waseem
Abstract
Humans perceive the world at a macroscopic level where the laws of nature can be explained using classical physics. However, at the sub-atomic level, systems exhibit phenomena that are not explainable using classical physics alone. To model the behaviour of these tiny systems, the pioneers developed a framework known as quantum mechanics. Since the main focus of this book is photons, we must understand basics of quantum mechanics before studying the behaviour of photonic systems. This mechanics has a special mathematical formalism which is the subject of this chapter.