The Boltzmann factor not only characterises the relationship between particle energies and their respective populations as a function of temperature, but also indicates that absorption and emission processes involving photons of different colours (i.e., frequencies) are, in general, mutually independent [29]. However, this stands in contrast to experiments in the field of nonlinear optics, such as the one by Abrahao et al. (2024) [1]. The authors of that publication show that green laser light (532 nm wavelength) enhances the absorption of blue laser light (450 nm) in a ruby crystal, and explain this phenomenon using a hierarchical orbital model.In the context of an alternative interpretation of quantum mechanics [28] (as opposed to the Copenhagen interpretation), based on the works of A. Einstein (1916) [9] and H. De Raedt et al. (2005) [5], a different possible explanation emerges, which is outlined here. Based on this model and the findings of Abrahao et al. (2024), modified interference experiments are proposed. These may help clarify whether particles—such as photons—interfere with themselves [8, 13, 14, 15], or whether quantum mechanics is merely an ensemble theory, without descriptive power concerning individual events [12].
The Boltzmann factor not only characterises the relationship between particle energies and their respective populations as a function of temperature, but also indicates that absorption and emission processes involving photons of different colours (i.e., frequencies) are, in general, mutually independent [29]. However, this stands in contrast to experiments in the field of nonlinear optics, such as the one by Abrahao et al. (2024) [1]. The authors of that publication show that green laser light (532 nm wavelength) enhances the absorption of blue laser light (450 nm) in a ruby crystal, and explain this phenomenon using a hierarchical orbital model.In the context of an alternative interpretation of quantum mechanics [28] (as opposed to the Copenhagen interpretation), based on the works of A. Einstein (1916) [9] and H. De Raedt et al. (2005) [5], a different possible explanation emerges, which is outlined here. Based on this model and the findings of Abrahao et al. (2024), modified interference experiments are proposed. These may help clarify whether particles—such as photons—interfere with themselves [8, 13, 14, 15], or whether quantum mechanics is merely an ensemble theory, without descriptive power concerning individual events [12].
According to R. Feynman 1963-1965 [10], the interference pattern that appears on the observation screen in the double-slit experiment with light cannot be explained by classical physics. The detection probability is supposed to result from the superposition of all paths that the photon can take from the source to the detector, the light quantum is self-interfering. However, Jin et al. 2010 [11] showed that this is not necessarily the case. In their computer simulation, they assumed that the trajectory of a photon corresponds to that of a classical particle. Thus, the interference only occurs at the detector with the participation of several photons. Not every photon causes a detection.Tiefenbrunner 2024 [17] investigated the detector further and recognized that particle interference under this and some other conditions presupposes a monochromatic resonator (all permissible energy levels are integer (ℕ0) multiples of a basal energy unit ε, where ε is also referred to as the ‘colour’ of the resonator). A monochromatic two-state system, e.g. a molecule that can only exist in two energetic states (ground and excited) and can only absorb one quantum (with respect to one ‘colour’), is, however, not sufficient for this. This prompted an evaluation of the significance of the monochromatic resonator for the Boltzmann-factor and Planck's radiation law. It turns out that the Boltzmann-factor and thus also the radiation law require resonators and hence are incompatible with two-state systems. The radiation law is derived using a kinetic model for the interaction of light with matter and without a priori use of the Boltzmann-factor, whereby it is also assumed that photons follow classical trajectories.
Introduction We have already encountered situations in which light of one frequency falling on an atomic system gives rise to light of different frequencies (cf. Section 15.6). The atom may here be considered to play the role of a (noisy) nonlinear transducer for the incident field. Even stronger nonlinear effects arise when one is dealing with a large number of atoms, or a nonlinear medium . Under these circumstances it is sometimes permissible to ignore the atomic structure and to treat the medium as a continuum, as in Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. The subject of the interaction of the incident field with the nonlinear medium is usually known as nonlinear optics. The subject had its beginnings in an experiment in which a strong beam of red light (wavelength 6943 Å) from a ruby laser was allowed to fall on a quartz crystal, and a faint beam of blue light at a wavelength of 3472 Å, the first harmonic of the red, was produced (Franken, Hill, Peters and Weinreich, 1961). The development of the subject of nonlinear optics into a mature field is due largely to the work of Bloembergen and his collaborators. In the following we shall consider only a few simple illustrative examples of phenomena in nonlinear optics. More topics and more detail can be found in the books by Bloembergen and others (Bloembergen, 1965; Yariv, 1967, Chap. 21; Shen, 1984; Schubert and Wilhelmi, 1986; Butcher and Cotter, 1990; Boyd, 1992).
From prehistoric times has come recognition that sunlight and firelight provide warmth, and that such illumination casts shadows. Expressed in more contemporary terms one would say that light travels in rays, and that this radiation has the potential to provide heat energy to absorbing material. From the time of Newton it has been known that light sources emit radiation comprising a distribution of colors. During the nineteenth century it was recognized that radiation had characteristics of transverse waves (with wavelength associated to color) but until the late twentieth century, when lasers became laboratory tools, it was hardly necessary to delve into the equations of electromagnetic theory to treat such experiments as were then possible; interest lay primarily with thermodynamic considerations of energy flow or with measurements of the dark or bright lines seen in the distribution of light that, after passing through a slit, was dispersed by a prism or grating into constituent colors. Although laser light sources are essential for the types of atomic excitation considered in this monograph, the legacy from thermal radiation still influences many interpretations of the interaction between radiation and matter, and it is therefore useful to summarize some of those concepts. The mathematics needed for describing laser radiation, or polarized light in general, has much in common with the mathematics of quantum theory discussed starting in Sec. 3.5 and specialized to two-level atoms in Sec. 5.6. In both cases one deals with two complex-valued functions – independent electric field amplitudes or probability amplitudes – whose absolute squares are measurable.
The selection equation (replicator equation) has been independently discovered not only in various fields of biology (population genetics, ecology, prebiotic evolution, and sociobiology), but also in laser theory, where it accounts for the emergence of coherent light. Selection theory (replicator dynamics) is an ensemble theory, i. e., it describes the entire system rather than individual events, neglecting details in favor of a statistical view. However, the underlying processes at the individual level are well known in biology. For light quanta, this is not the case, because quantum theory says nothing about individual events. In the Copenhagen interpretation even the existence of causality on "quantum level" is denied. A large number of recent publications, however, makes this interpretation seem questionable.In the present paper, therefore, an attempt is made to describe the basic interactions between light and matter, as far as they are relevant for the emergence of coherent light in the laser (a photon pair interaction mediated by matter is postulated), and to apply replicator dynamics on this basis. Starting point are papers of A. Einstein about the interaction of light and matter as well as the photoelectric effect. Both theories are slightly modified. Furthermore, the double-slit experiment is investigated and finally the emergence of coherent light by density-dependent selection of photons of different phase in a laser-like model. The relationship between “mean fitness”, information content of the photon ensemble and the amplitude of the light is also analyzed.
Abstract Laser radiation is an intense coherent light field that is characterized by its high monochromatic brightness and high photon degeneracy. Thus, it is capable of generating various stimulated scattering effects and a series of multiphoton excitation-induced opto-physical and opto-chemical effects. There are two parallel theoretical regimes. The first regime is the semiclassical theory that treats light as a classical electromagnetic field described by Maxwell’s equations. The second regime is the quantum electrodynamic theory, which treats light as an assembly of photons obeying Bose–Einstein statistics. Both regimes can be complementarily adopted to describe the interaction of light radiation with matter.
A modified double slit experiment of light was implemented. In the experiment, a spatial shape filter is used to manipulate the shape of cross section of laser beam. When this modified laser beam was shined on the double slit, the intensity distribution of laser beam on double slit is asymmetrical. In this way, the laser light was directed to pass through only one or two slits of double slit in different sections. So the which‐way information is predetermined before the photons pass through the slits. At the same time, the visible interference pattern can be observed on a monitor screen after the double slit. A couple of new phenomena had been observed from this experiment. The results of this experiment raise questions about Wave‐Particle Duality model of quantum theory, which is the foundation for the Copenhagen explanation that is generally regarded as the principal interpretation of quantum theory. As the observed properties from this experiment cannot be fully explained using the quantum theory, especially the Copenhagen explanation, a new model of photon is proposed. The new model for photon should be also applicable to all other micro entities, according to L. de Broglie assumption.