On the ParticleNature of Photons and the Mechanism of TrajectoryInduced Wavelike Phenomena

Jiaqing Yan

Published Jul 28, 2026• 0 citations

Abstract

Since the establishment of modern optics, the physical nature of light has been debated for centuries, which finally led to the mainstream theory of waveparticle duality. This theory holds that photons intrinsically possess both particle and wave properties, and it is adopted to interpret diverse optical phenomena including rectilinear propagation, polarization, interference and diffraction, forming the fundamental framework of modern quantum optics. Nevertheless, the theory of waveparticle duality contains inherent logical defects. Its essential flaw lies in confusing two completely distinct physical concepts: the intrinsic properties of a substance itself and the morphological features of its motion trajectory. Conventional theories mistake the apparent waveshaped trajectory produced by particle motion for the intrinsic wave property of microparticles, resulting in persistent conceptual ambiguity, missing physical mechanisms and logical inconsistencies within microoptics. This paper constructs an optical underlying model from a purely particle perspective to clarify the real mechanism behind waveparticle phenomena of light. A photon is an indivisible, nonspreading, nontrailing pointlike physical particle with no intrinsic wave property. While propagating, a photon travels along a fixed straightline direction and undergoes inherent transverse oscillation within the plane perpendicular to its propagation direction. At the moment of its generation, a photon uniquely fixes its transverse oscillation angle, amplitude and frequency within the 360degree plane perpendicular to its travelling direction. Once determined, these parameters remain constant throughout propagation without random shifts or arbitrary changes. Superposition of the photon’s longitudinal rectilinear motion and fixedangle transverse oscillation generates a standard sinusoidal trajectory. Consequently, all wavelike features observed in optics are geometric apparent effects originating from particle motion trajectories, rather than material properties intrinsic to photons. Based on this model, this paper reinterprets the core physical mechanism behind doubleslit interference. Contrary to the traditional explanation of photon selfinterference or wavefield superposition, interference fringes arise from microscopic mechanical interactions between transverselyoscillating photons and slit walls when photons pass through the slits. Such interactions regularly deflect photon flight angles. After being deflected and filtered by slits, large numbers of photons form uneven statistical distributions on the receiving plane and produce macroscopically observable lightanddark fringes. This paper also defines the threshold for photonphoton interactions. Ordinaryenergy photons such as visiblelight, infrared and ultraviolet photons do not interact, collide or exchange energy with one another in free space. Only gammaraylevel highenergy photons may collide, undergo energy annihilation, and convert into material particles such as electronpositron pairs. Relying entirely on classical mechanical superposition principles and discarding the contradictory hypothesis of waveparticle duality, the proposed purelyparticle model provides selfconsistent explanations for core classical optical phenomena and achieves analytical revision for the underlying logic of optical waveparticle phenomena.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21640137

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