10k views

### Does a photon interfere only with itself?

I sometimes hear statements like: Quantum-mechanically, an interference pattern occurs due to quantum interference of the wavefunction of a photon. The wavefunction of a single photon only ...
17k 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?
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### Are the Maxwell equations a correct description of the wave character of photons?

In basic quantum mechanics courses, one describes the evolution of quantum mechanics chronologically. Interference experiments with particles showed that particles should have a wave character; on the ...
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### Born rule for photons: it works, but it shouldn't?

We can observe double-slit diffraction with photons, with light of such low intensity that only one photon is ever in flight at one time. On a sensitive CCD, each photon is observed at exactly one ...
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### Is it possible/correct to describe electromagnetism using curved space(-time)? [duplicate]

Comparing the simples form of the forces of both phenomena: the law of Newton for gravitation $V\propto \frac{1}{r}$, and the Coulomb law for electrostatics $V\propto \frac{1}{r}$, one might think ...
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### Producing photons with same frequency, different amplitude wave [duplicate]

I don't understand how two photons of the same frequency can have different amplitudes, neither how to produce them. I know that classically the square of the amplitude is proportional to the energy, ...
854 views

### Interpretation of Wigner function in optics

I work in the field of synchrotron radiation sources where radiation (often x-rays) is produced from an electron beam going through magnetic fields. The quality of the resulting x-ray beam is ...
3k views

### Young's double-slit experiment with detectors

Related: Accuracy of various optical instruments In many books, it's written that knowing which slit a photon passes through (by placing a detector before the slit) in a Young's double-slit setup ...
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### Quantum barrier for photons [closed]

In quantum mechanics, a particle may tunnel through a barrier it would not be able to surmount in a classical sense. My question is this: What are all the factors that may prevent a photon from ...
812 views

### A Photon's wavelength is Color, but an Electron's wavelength is a Probability? [closed]

If a photon of 475nm strikes my retina, my brain registers it as "blue," whereas a photon of 650nm is "red." If I ask the question "what is oscillating, and therefore causing the change in wavelength (...
228 views

### What is the length of a single photon?

I don't mean the wavelength, I mean the full length in the direction of propagation. What is the total extent of a single photon in space? Does it even have a length? Edit to clarify: Let's say a ...
303 views

### Relation between the electromagnetic wave and quantum wavefunction

I have been thinking about this for a while. I think I misunderstood something about the basics of quantum waves. Let's look at light diffracted in conditions similar to the double slit experiment. ...
169 views

### Photon Quantum Field proportional to Electromagnetic Field?

Does it make sense to say that the quantum field of a photon is exactly proportional to the photon's electromagnetic field? \begin{align} \bar{\Psi} = \dfrac{\bar{E}+i\bar{B}}{\sqrt{\int (E^2+B^2)dV}}...
### Is $\phi_n =\left\langle \vec r | n \right\rangle$ the photon wave function?
I am a bit confused about this issue and I am still not clear whether is there is a photon wave function or not. Since we use Fock states $| n \rangle$ to represent the state of a quantized ...