Re: Photons
- From: John Kennaugh <JKNG@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2007 09:52:55 +0100
Tom Roberts wrote:
joilly17@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:Can someone please answer this question: A photon has an electric
field and a magnetic field that oscillate at right angles to each
other.
Not really. In a very real sense photons ARE magnetic and electric fields, they don't "have" them.
That is sloppy thinking. In classical electrodynamics circa Maxwell a 'field' was a physical stress in the aether. Action-at-a-distance force between charges was transferred via this stress and the stress could propagate through the aether at c in the form of light. Despite the fact that relativity owes its existence to Einstein's belief in some sort of aether, the concept of the aether has become highly unfashionable resulting in the almost universal acceptance of the 'no aether doctrine'. The fallout of this is that while physicists still talk in terms of 'fields' the word no longer has a meaning. If there is no aether to be stressed then action-at-a-distance force cannot be explained by that means. If one accepts that ultimately all force acts at a distance, which it does, and accept that it is just a mental hang-up on our part which wants us to try and explain it in terms of our misconceptions then a field becomes the 'field of influence' of action at a distance force and ceases to be physical at all. The electric field simply maps the action at a distance force which WOULD occur IF a charge were placed at any given point.
To say that photon are 'fields' is therefore nonsense unless you can explain what you mean by a physical 'field' consistent with an acceptance of the no aether doctrine which you endorse.
A charge, a unit charge even, is one of the fundamental and most enduring concepts in Physics.
Faraday showed that magnetism is the result of charge and produced relationships which Maxwell used to produce his equations. Maxwell's equations are therefore based on the behaviour of charge. There success indicates that light and charge are in some way intrinsically linked. It follows therefore that you have - photons are light - light is intrinsically linked with charge so photons must be linked with charge also.
If there is no aether and if as a consequence we accept that action-at- a-distance is the natural way all force acts then a 'field' is simply the field of influence of a charge or charges. If as you accept a photon has associated with it a 'field' then a photon must contain charge. This ties in with the clue provided by the success of Maxwell linking photons and charge. As a photon is massless and has no net charge it must consist of an equal positive and negative charge and as the field alternates it would suggest the charges are in motion. I have suggested before a model of a photon consisting of a positive and negative charge rotating about a common centre tracing a double helix through space. A rotating field rather than an undulating one. Your statement:
In a very real sense photons ARE magnetic and electric fields,
is therefore a description of effect not cause. A field cannot exist unless there is something to cause it (as per my suggestion or similar) unless there is something for it to exist IN - i.e. back to the aether.
--
[Note that photons are intrinsically circularly polarized...]
John Kennaugh
"The nature of the physicists' default was their failure to insist sufficiently
strongly on the physical reality of the physical world." Dr Scott Murray
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: Photons
- From: John C . Polasek
- Re: Photons
- From: Tom Roberts
- Re: Photons
- From: PD
- Re: Photons
- References:
- Photons
- From: joilly17
- Re: Photons
- From: Tom Roberts
- Photons
- Prev by Date: Re: Eric Gisse doesn't know the basics of Relativity
- Next by Date: Re: Twin paradox revisited ll
- Previous by thread: Re: Photons
- Next by thread: Re: Photons
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
