Given the well-documented quantum Rayleigh scattering of single photons in a dielectric medium
[1] A. P. Vinogradov, V. Y. Shishkov, I. V. Doronin, E. S. Andrianov, A. A. Pukhov, and A. A. Lisyansky, “Quantum theory of Rayleigh scattering,” Opt. Express 29 (2), 2501-2520 (2021).
How can a single photon propagate in a straight-line inside a dielectric?
Otherwise, synchronized detections of the 'entangled' photons is impossible.
André, it could be that you can solve a problem that I have not yet solved.
In the document www.researchgate.net/publication/381515019_What_is_the_chance_in_slit_experiments
I have published the trajectories of photons in a double slit experiment and I cannot interpret them. Perhaps you can. I have also simulated the patterns of a detector in the near and far field of slit experiments.
www.researchgate.net/publication/381225292_A_Simple_Simulation_Tool_for_Single_Slit_Double_Slit_Pinholes_and_Other_Diffraction_Experiments
What could be the reason for the strange trajectories resulting directly from the detector patterns in the near field of slit experiments?
I would be very pleased to hear from you
Just like an electron can, despite the fact that it, also, can scatter off the constituents of the dielectric medium.
Thomas Kretschmer
Good day Thomas,
The dimensions of the photon - which is a small amount of EM energy- are evaluated as in:
A. Vatarescu, “Instantaneous Quantum Description of Photonic Wavefronts and Applications”, Quantum Beam Sci. 2022, 6, 29.
Only a group of identical photons can propagate in a straight-line inside a dielectric medium by having the photon locally absorbed by a dielectric dipole re-emitted through stimulated Rayleigh emission by the remaining photons coming just behind it. This is also the process that gives rise to the phase shift of the optical beam relative to propagation through vacuum.
Stam Nicolis
Good day Stam,
Actually, an electron, if scattered goes away.
If you say that the wave function of the electron spreads across the medium and somehow comes together at the point of exit where it is needed, then this is just a theoretical explanation which fails to take into consideration the atom-electron interactions.
I approached many editors and authors with the question of photon scattering and I am still to receive any answer.
An electron moving in a medium can be described in a known way, scattering and everything. How an electron interacts with a dielectric medium is known.
Same thing holds for a photon. It is known how electromagnetic waves propagate in dielctric media and that they're superpositions of photons.
Stam Nicolis
Good day Stam,
First, you should read the article I listed after the question:
[1] A. P. Vinogradov, V. Y. Shishkov, I. V. Doronin, E. S. Andrianov, A. A. Pukhov, and A. A. Lisyansky, “Quantum theory of Rayleigh scattering,” Opt. Express 29 (2), 2501-2520 (2021).
The photon is absorbed locally and re-emitted by an electric dipole, spontaneously or through stimulated emission.
By contrast, an electron is deflected by the electric field of the atom.
The suggestion of a superposition of photons to represent a photon is the root cause of the misinterpretation. Contrary to the Copenhagen theory, a lack of knowledge by the observer does not create an effect. How do you describe the amplification of a photon if you already have many photons? There's more to it than meets the (quantum) eye.
The quantum postulate of superposition of states cannot be tested experimentally. The source itself may generate more than one photon at any given time. Once again, you should read the article listed after the question.
A classical particle in any medium follows the geodesic in that medium. So the statement that a photon (or an electron), propagating in a medium, follows a straight line is misleading.
A quantum particle doesn't follow any well-defined trajectory; what can be computed is the probability for finding the particle somewhere, obtained by solving the Schrödinger equation for the wavefunction, from which the probability density is, then, obtained.
Rayleigh scattering is produced by density fluctuations in SiO2 molecules that are "frozen in" during fiberoptic manufacturing. The quantum model uses the time dependent Schrödinger wave equation, that can change the Rayleigh scattered photon into the particle vacuum after the non-Hermitian jump process into the Hermitian classical limit [11]. Quantum pre-gravity saves unitarity and the principle of equivalence.
See page 87, "the classical limit" in reference [11] in (1). (1) (PDF) Rayleigh Scattering into Aikyon Gauge Field Lorentz Bosons in Emergent General Relativity. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366486141 [accessed Jun 20, 2024].
Stam, "that they're superpositions of photons." No, no superpositions. All experiments work with single photon sources, as you know, and there is not any superposition between photons. My simulation work with photon by photon experiments and every single photon has it own trajectory independent on any other photon. But there is always an influence of the entire slit plane from every edge of every slit to every other edge to every other slit. This is the reason why we should name it a field of the slit plate itself. Why should any other photon, emitted at any other time influence other photons? It's more likely, according to a structural model, that the slit plane has an influence to the photons but not one photon to another one.
Preprint A Simple Simulation Tool for Single Slit, Double Slit, Pinho...
Preprint What is the chance in slit experiments?