A Thought Experiment on Photon Pulse Reconstruction in Extreme Environments
Craig Kyrle Strachan Davidson
Abstract
This thought experiment explores what information can be inferred about a photon pulse’s journey through interactions if its initial properties are known or modeled. By comparing the observed pulse to a predicted baseline, one can probabilistically reconstruct interaction history, including photon number, polarization, frequency, and direction. The framework is conceptual and speculative, grounded in standard quantum mechanics, and extends ideas from quantum state tomography to extreme environments such as near black holes. Laboratory analogues may validate aspects of this framework, while astrophysical pulses provide conceptual insight into interaction histories in extreme gravitational conditions.