Tobin Fricke's Lab Notebook ([info]nibot_lab) wrote,
@ 2009-05-18 13:43:00
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Entry tags:quantum mechanics

photon wavefunction?
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.

Question: What is the equivalent equation giving the quantum mechanics of a single photon, and why don't we talk about it?


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[info]onhava
2009-05-18 09:07 pm UTC (link)
It's Maxwell's equation(s). (The big difference with photons is that you really can't avoid field theory. You can't really avoid field theory with relativistic electrons, either, but people can get away with saying "relativistic quantum mechanics" there if they wave their hands enough.)

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[info]gstef
2009-05-18 09:19 pm UTC (link)
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1980JPhA...13.2975J

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"The Maxwell wave function of the photon"
[info]nibot
2009-05-19 04:47 pm UTC (link)
http://www.uoregon.edu/~oco/Group_Pages/Raymer/Tutorials/TTRL4_V1.pdf
http://www.uoregon.edu/~oco/Group_Pages/Raymer/Tutorials/TTRL5_V1.pdf

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