Photon dynamics in the double-slit experiment, 3
.
What equation describes the wavefunction of a single photon?
The Schrödinger equation describes the quantum mechanics of a single massive non-relativistic particle. The Dirac equation governs a single massive relativistic spin-½ particle. The photon is a massless, relativistic spin-1 particle.
What is the equivalent equation giving the quantum mechanics of a single photon?
— edited Jun 3 ’13 at 19:42
— Ben Crowell
— asked Nov 9 ’10 at 20:38
— nibot
.
There is no quantum mechanics of a photon, only a quantum field theory of electromagnetic radiation. The reason is that photons are never non-relativistic and they can be freely emitted and absorbed, hence no photon number conservation.
— answered Nov 10 ’10 at 20:00
— Igor Ivanov
.
You can also say that the wavefunction of a photon is defined as long as the photon is not emitted or absorbed. The wavefunction of a single photons is used in single-photon interferometry, for example. In a sense, it is not much different from the electron, where the wave-function start to be problematic when electrons start to be created or annihilated…
– Frédéric Grosshans Nov 17 ’10 at 10:19
.
— Physics StackExchange
.
.
2018.12.14 Friday ACHK