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22
votes
3answers
1k views

Scattering of light by light: experimental status

Scattering of light by light does not occur in the solutions of Maxwell's equations (since they are linear and EM waves obey superposition), but it is a prediction of QED (the most significant Feynman ...
9
votes
2answers
585 views

Does a photon exert a gravitational pull?

I know a photon has zero rest mass, but it does have plenty of energy. Since energy and mass are equivalent does this mean that a photon (or more practically, a light beam) exerts a gravitational pull ...
3
votes
4answers
346 views

Does $p=mc$ hold for photons?

Known that $E=hf$, $p=hf/c=h/\lambda$, then if $p=mc$, where $m$ is the (relativistic) mass, then $E=mc^2$ follows directly as an algebraic fact. Is this the case?
2
votes
3answers
274 views

If electromagnetic fields give charge to particles, do photons carry charge?

As I understand these two statements: An electromagnetic field gives particles charge A photon is a quantum of electromagnetic field It must mean that a photon carries charge. But I guess it isn't ...
0
votes
1answer
162 views

Expression for the (relativistic) mass of the photon [closed]

I started learning a bit ahead from an old physics book, and they were discussing the photoelectric effect and after that Planck's hypotheses and energy quantas. The book said that the mass of a ...
14
votes
3answers
711 views

Amplitude of an electromagnetic wave containing a single photon

Given a light pulse in vacuum containing a single photon with an energy $E=h\nu$, what is the peak value of the electric / magnetic field?
2
votes
1answer
161 views

Will photon's energy be exactly same after million years?

If photon will travel for million years without collisions, what subtle effects can be accumulated ? Gravity fields affect trajectory, but is energy completely intact after fly by ? Photon has its ...
4
votes
4answers
271 views

Why does a photon colliding with an atomic nucleus cause pair production?

I understand that the photon needs to have enough energy to produce a lepton and it's antimatter partner, and that all of the properties are conserved, but why does the photon do this in the first ...
2
votes
0answers
86 views

Does the passage of time effect a photons entanglement with another?

I recently read an article about "Delayed-choice entanglement swapping". Here is an excerpt from the article: Delayed-choice entanglement swapping consists of the following steps. (I use the ...
0
votes
0answers
42 views

If photons don't have mass then why do we calculate their momenum? [duplicate]

As much I know photon do not have any mass. But while studying my course book saw a topic which included calculation of momentum of photons. I was wondering why was that. Please clear my confusion?
0
votes
0answers
100 views

Why angular momentum applies to emitted photons, and how it affects the emitting atom's quantized system

From what I've read, photons have spin of 1 (I guess possible by their relativistic mass), and when a photon is emitted from an atom, the production of this spin affects the balance of the atom's ...