Are there photons in fact?

S. A. Rashkovskiy

doi:10.1117/12.2185010

10 September 2015 Are there photons in fact?

S. A. Rashkovskiy

Proceedings Volume 9570, The Nature of Light: What are Photons? VI; 95700G (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2185010
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

There are two opposing points of view on the nature of light: the first one manifests the wave-particle duality as a fundamental property of the nature; the second one claims that photons do not exist and the light is a continuous classical wave, while the so-called “quantum” properties of this field appear only as a result of its interaction with matter. In this paper we show that many quantum phenomena which are traditionally described by quantum electrodynamics can be described if light is considered within the limits of classical electrodynamics without quantization of radiation. These phenomena include the double-slit experiment, the photoelectric effect, the Compton effect, the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect, the so-called multiphoton ionisation of atoms, etc. We show that this point of view allows also explaining the “wave-particle duality” of light in Wiener experiments with standing waves. We show that the Born rule for light can easily be derived from Fermi’s golden rule as an approximation for low-intense light or for short exposure time. We show that the Heisenberg uncertainty principle for “photons” has a simple classical sense and cannot be considered as a fundamental limitation of accuracy of simultaneous measurements of position and momentum or time and energy. We conclude that the concept of a “photon” is superfluous in explanation of light-matter interactions.

Citation Download Citation

S. A. Rashkovskiy "Are there photons in fact?", Proc. SPIE 9570, The Nature of Light: What are Photons? VI, 95700G (10 September 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2185010

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