Abstract
Quantization of the electromagnetic field is traditionally introduced at the level of second quantization: the classical field variables are replaced by field operators. I believe that the reasons why a first-quantized theory of photons has never been fully developed are mainly historical. Had Dirac discovered his relativistic wave equation [1] prior to his quantization of the electromagnetic field [2], he would have noticed and most probably further explored a great similarity between the wave equation for the electron (or even better for the neutrino) and the Maxwell equations. As it happened, this similarity was noticed later (for the first time apparently by Majorana [3]) and played no role in the development of the quantum theory of electromagnetism because the quantized electromagnetic field has been introduced from the very beginning and accounted for all quantum properties electromagnetic radiation. Subsequently quantum electrodynamics has become so successful in explaining with utmost accuracy all experiments within its range of applicability that there was no need to search for an alternative formulation that would employ the concept of the photon wave function. Considering our trust in quantum electrodynamics and our familiarity with its formal apparatus one may even ask if there is any justification at all for, what it essentially amounts to, a reconstruction of the notion of the photon function from QED, only to face a not so familiar object whose properties are yet to be uncovered.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
P. A. M. Dirac, Proc. Roy. Soc.(London)A117, 610 (1928); A118, 351 (1928).
P. A. M. Dirac, Proc. Roy. Soc.(London)A114, 243 (1927).
E. Majorana (unpublished notes), quoted after R. Miguani, E. Bec. mi, and M. Baldo, Lett.Nuovo Cime ito 11, 568 (1974).
G. Wentzel, Quantum Theory of Fields, lnterscience, New York 1949.
R. London, The Quantum Theory of Light, Clarendon, Oxford 1973.
W. H. Louisell, Quantum Theory of Radiation, Wiley, New York 1990.
C. Cohen-Tannoudji, J. Dupont-Roc, and G. Grynberg, Photons and Atoms, Wiley, New York 1989.
I. Bialynicki-Birula and Z. Bialynicka-Birula, Quantum Electrodynamics, Pergamon, Oxford 1976.
P. A. M. Dirac, The Principles of Quantum Theory, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1958.
G. Baym, Lectures on Quantum Mechanics, Benjamin, Reading 1969.
II. J. Lipkin, Quantum Mechanics, North-Holland, Amsterdam 1973.
C. Cohen-’Fannoudji, B. Din, and F. Laboë, Quantum Mechanics, Vol.!, Wiley, New York 1977.
H. A. Nramers, Quantentheorie des Elektrons und der.5’trahlungin Hand-und.1ahrbuch der Chemischen Physik, Eucken-Wolf, Leipzig, 1938 (English translation Quantum Mechanics, North-Volland, Amsterdam 1957 ).
D. Bohm, Quantum Theory, Constable, London 1954.
E. A. Power, Introductory Quantum Electrodynamics, Longmans, London 1964.
L. Silberstein, Ann. d. Phys.22,579 (1907); 24, 783 (1907). After publishing his first paper Silberstein discovered that the complex form of Maxwell equations has been already known to Riemann (Die partiellen Differential-Gleichungen der mathematische Physik, Lectures by B. Riemann edited by H. Weber vol. 2, Vieweg, Braunschweig 1901 ).
H. Bateman, The Mathematical Analysis of Electrical and Optical Wave Motion on the Basis of Maxwell’s Equations, Cambridge, 1915 (reprinted by Dover, New York 1955 ).
I. Bialynicki-Birula, Acta Phys. Polon. A 86, 97 (1994).
L. D. Landau and R. Peierls, Z. Phys. 62, 188 (1930).
R. J. Cook, Phys. Rev. A25, 2164 (1982); 26, 2754 (1982).
W. Pauli, Prinzipien der Quantentheorie, Handbuch der Physik, Vol.24, Springer, Berlin, 1933, (English translation: General Principles of Quantum Mechanics, Springer, Berlin, 1980 ).
H. Weyl, Z. Phys. 56, 330 (1929).
R. Penrose and W. Rindler, Spinors and Space-Time,Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1984, Vol.I, Ch. 5.
C. Itzykson and J.-B. Zuber, Quantum Field Theory, McGraw-Hill, New York 1980, p. 50.
A. Messiah, Quantum Mechanics, North-Holland, Amsterdam 1962.
L. C. Biedenharn and J. D. Louck, Angular Momentum in Quantum Physics, Addison-Wesley, Reading 1981.
A. Ashtekar, private communication.
A. Ashtekar and A.Magnon, Proc. Roy. Soc. A346, 375 (1975).
A. Ashtekar and A.Magnon, Gen. Rel. Gray. 12, 205 (1980).
V. Bargmann and E. P. Wigner, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 34, 211 (1948).
L. Gross, J. Math. Phys. 5, 687 (1964).
G. Kaiser, A Friendly Guide to WaveletsBirkhäuser, Boston 1994.
J. D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, Wiley, New York 1975.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bialynicki-Birula, I. (1996). The Photon Wave Function. In: Eberly, J.H., Mandel, L., Wolf, E. (eds) Coherence and Quantum Optics VII. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9742-8_38
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9742-8_38
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9744-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9742-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive