I picture a light ray as composed of photons with an energy equal to the frequency of the light ray according to E=hf. Is this the good way to picture this? Although I can solve elementary problems with the formulas, I've never really been comfortable with the idea of an object having or being related to a "frequency." Do I need to learn quantum field theory to really understand this?
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All you need is quantum mechanics, i.e. that nature in the microcosm is dual,sometimes it can manifest wave properties and sometimes particle properties. It depends on the measurement/experiment if the wave or the particle nature will manifest itself. Electrons manifest this duality: in the two slit experiment their wave nature appears governed by the de Broglie wavelength. Photons do the same too, displaying the Wavelenght/frequency associated with the collective classical electromagnetic wave. The classical electromagnetic wave is built out of photons in a consistent way, and you could study this link if you are interested in this more complicated problem. |
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