I am a very very very theoretical physicist, so forgive me for asking this question. As far as I can recollect, it is possible to measure the wavelength of a Photon direct. I am not sure about the frequency of the Photon. I think the frequency is inferred from the relation:
Frequency= (Speed of Light: c)/Wavelength.
Am I right? If so, the question that I have asked then makes sense: Can the frequency of a Photon be measured directly? Or it is measure indirectly in the manner suggested above?
Interesting question. I think a lot depends on the frequency. For radio or microwaves, it is possible to use electronic means to measure frequency directly but the energy in a single photon is so low that it would be lost in the noise, you need a coherent signal which is the aggregate of many photons.
For optical determination however, some telescopes can be operated in "photon counting" mode. A weak source hitting a grating will produce individual photon detection events at a location on the CCD that depends on its frequency or wavelength.
Which of those you think causes the deflection is more a matter of interpretation. The photon lands where the time delay on the numerous paths is an integer multiple of the period hence it measures frequency, or the path length difference is a multiple of the wavelength so that is what it measures. Both are true of course.
Personally I think it more informative to consider that the various paths all result in the photon having the same phase at the detection point hence the probability of arrival is maximised, so it is a measure of frequency.
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