The Bohr model of the photon (Invited Paper)

Geoffrey Hunter; Marian Kowalski; Camil Alexandrescu

doi:10.1117/12.613287

4 August 2005 The Bohr model of the photon (Invited Paper)

Geoffrey Hunter, Marian Kowalski, Camil Alexandrescu

Proceedings Volume 5866, The Nature of Light: What Is a Photon?; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.613287
Event: Optics and Photonics 2005, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The photon is modeled as a monochromatic solution of Maxwell's equations confined as a soliton wave by the principle of causality of special relativity. The soliton travels rectilinearly at the speed of light. The solution can represent any of the known polarization (spin) states of the photon. For circularly polarized states the soliton's envelope is a circular ellipsoid whose length is the observed wavelength (λ), and whose diameter is λ/π; this envelope contains the electromagnetic energy of the wave (hν = hc/λ). The predicted size and shape is confirmed by experimental measurements: of the sub-picosecond time delay of the photo-electric effect, of the attenuation of undiffracted transmission through slits narrower than the soliton's diameter of λ/π, and by the threshold intensity required for the onset of multiphoton absorption in focussed laser beams. Inside the envelope the wave's amplitude increases linearly with the radial distance from the axis of propagation, being zero on the axis. Outside the envelope the wave is evanescent with an amplitude that decreases inversely with the radial distance from the axis. The evanescent wave is responsible for the observed double-slit interference phenomenon.

Citation Download Citation

Geoffrey Hunter, Marian Kowalski, and Camil Alexandrescu "The Bohr model of the photon (Invited Paper)", Proc. SPIE 5866, The Nature of Light: What Is a Photon?, (4 August 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.613287

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