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arXiv:quant-ph/0511181

Photon Wave Mechanics

Zhiyong Wang, Cai-Dong Xiong, Ole Keller

Published Nov 18, 2005• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In contrast to wave functions in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics interpreted as probability amplitudes, wave functions in relativistic quantum mechanics have generalized meanings such as charge-density amplitudes, energy-density amplitudes as well as particle-number density amplitudes, etc. Applying electromagnetic field intensities we construct a photon wave function, it corresponds to the (1,0)+(0,1) spinor representation of the electromagnetic field, and can be interpreted as the energy-density amplitude of photons outside a source. In terms of photon wave functions we develop photon wave mechanics, which provides us with a new quantum-mechanical description for photons outside a source.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0511181

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In contrast to wave functions in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics interpreted as probability amplitudes, wave functions in relativistic quantum mechanics have generalized meanings such as charge-density amplitudes, energy-density amplitudes as well as particle-number density amplitudes, etc. Applying electromagnetic field intensities we construct a photon wave function, it corresponds to the (1,0)+(0,1) spinor representation of the electromagnetic field, and can be interpreted as the energy-density amplitude of photons outside a source. In terms of photon wave functions we develop photon wave mechanics, which provides us with a new quantum-mechanical description for photons outside a source.
Abstract The main provisions of the construction of the single-particle wave function of a photon in the coordinate representation are expounded and its application to the description of single-photon interference phenomena is discussed. The connection between the concepts of electromagnetic field strengths used in quantum electrodynamics and the characteristics of wave packets in photon quantum mechanics is substantiated. For illustration, we consider the relationship between the structure of the photon wave function in coordinate representation and the polarization of photon in the formalism of quantum transition amplitudes. The meaning of the concept of linear polarization of a photon in the state of a wave packet is explained. The wave function is constructed in the coordinate representation of the state of two entangled photons at the exit from a nonlinear crystal by modeling the polarization vectors and Gaussian momentum distribution for each of the photons.
Recently, the author [Phys. Rev. A 49, 2839 (1994)] proposed a quantum-mechanical theory of a photon, in which negative energy states can be dismissed from physical photon states without causing any difficulties. In this Brief Report the physical meaning of a photon wave function is investigated more precisely. The interpretation of a photon wave function as a probability amplitude is guaranteed by requiring the coarse-grained condition that the linear dimensions of a volume or a surface concerned in the configuration space are large compared to the photon wavelengths. The calculation made here is essentially based on that presented by Mandel [Phys. Rev. 144, 1071 (1966)] in his analysis of the photon number operator. But our calculation includes that of Mandel as the zeroth-order approximation. As a result, it is shown that although the position operator ◯ in the ordinary quantum mechanics be considered a correct photon operator strictly cannot, it becomes meaningful to some extent under the coarse-grained condition. In connection with ◯, we also examine the velocity operator $[\mathbf{◯},\ifmmode \hat{H}\else \^{H}\fi{}]/i\ensuremath{\Elzxh}$ ($\ifmmode \hat{H}\else \^{H}\fi{}$ is the photon Hamiltonian), and show that the probability current density is definable under the coarse-grained condition.
The conditions for observation of the particle coordinates, required by logic of the Special Relativity and filtering the quantum field effects, are described. A general relation between the corresponding density of probability and the wave function is found. It is a relativistic invariant describing probability of the particle emergences in space -time. This density is concretized for bosons, both scalar and vector (including photon), charged and neutral, also electron. The Heisenberg's uncertainty relations have been approved in regards to relativistic particle. As applied to the quantum field, this new construction is transformed to new characteristic of the particles distribution in space-time, which complete distribution throughout impulses. The operators of these distributions and the invariant relativistic description for free quantum fields have been obtained. These new properties of the particles and fields are proposed for experimental investigations.
Essentially, we solve the particle-field equations obtained in the matter distribution quantum mechanics. In the framework of this theory, a particle is described by a density amplitude function, we call wave function, as a packet of waves with the time dependent phases proportional to the relativistic Lagrangian. The mass quantization of such a particle, as a distribution of matter, is obtained from the equality of the spatial integral of the density with the mass as a characteristic of the relativistic dynamics of this matter. The particle dynamics, as a motion of a mass spatial distribution, is obtained from the equality of the wave propagation velocities with the distribution coordinate velocities. This description is a physical one, compared to the Schrödinger-Heisenberg description leading to unphysical results as a null velocity for the kinetic energy as a constant of motion, or Zitterbewegung. The description of a particle interaction with an electromagnetic field by additional Lagrangian terms, with a vector potential conjugated to coordinates, as in the Aharonov-Bohm effect, and an electric potential conjugated to time, leads to the Lorentz force, and the Maxwell equations. In the two conjugated spaces, of the coordinates and of the momentum, the dynamics of a quantum particle is described by propagation operators, depending on the coordinate-momentum product, applied to time dependent wave functions satisfying matter-field equations. Unlike the standard Schrödinger or Schrödinger-Dirac equations, depending only on the Hamiltonian operator, instead of the Hamiltonian these equations contain the Lagrangian, which, besides the Hamiltonian, include additional terms with an explicit dependence on velocity, as it is expected in a relativistic theory. We obtain the wave function of a particle-antiparticle system interacting with an electromagnetic field, as a wave packet of spinors propagating in space with finite dimensions, given by the finite definition domain of the density function, in the space of the matter-field momentum, as a constant of motion. We show that an electrically charged quantum particle, rotating in a central electric field, generates a vector potential with a magnetic field perpendicular to the rotational plane and an electric field in this plane. By a quantum transition, a photon is emitted in the particle rotational plane, with the magnetic field perpendicular to this plane, and the electric field contained in this plane. In this framework, the vector potential rotation is correlated to a particle momentum rotation, for the canonical matter-field momentum as a constant of motion, without any electromagnetic field radiated outside.
We expound an alternative to the Copenhagen interpretation of the formalism of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. The basic difference is that the new interpretation is formulated in the language of epistemological realism. It involves a change in some basic physical concepts. The ψ function is no longer interpreted as a probability amplitude of the observed behavior of an elementary particle but as an objective physical field representing the particle itself. The particles are thus extended objects whose extension varies in time according to the variation of ψ. They are considered as fundamental regions of space with no internal structure. This implies some kind of nonlocality. Symmetrization of the configuration space wave function is interpreted as a mathematical description of a physical process, which also leads to nonlocal effects. Special consideration
Some connections between quantum mechanics and classical physics are explored. The Planck–Einstein and De Broglie relations, the wavefunction and its probabilistic interpretation, the canonical commutation relations and the Maxwell–Lorentz equation may be understood in a simple way by comparing classical electromagnetism and the photonic description of light provided by classical relativistic kinematics. The method used may be described as 'inverse correspondence' since quantum phenomena become apparent on considering the low photon number density limit of classical electromagnetism. Generalization to massive particles leads to the Klein–Gordon and Schrödinger equations. The difference between the quantum wavefunction of the photon and a classical electromagnetic wave is discussed in some detail.