Sunday, 17 December 2017

Is a single photon also a Maxwellian wave?


A photon is associated with the equations $h\nu$ and $\frac{hc}{\lambda}$.



My book (Serway Modern Physics) says that Einstein explained the photoelectric effect by assuming that the classical wavefront had its energy distributed over bundles, with energy $h\nu$. (I've been told this is wrong elsewhere, but its not crucial to my question anyways).


With this picture I imagine that the Maxwellian wave is replete with photons, and its not too hard to digest that the energy of a photon could be given by $h\nu$ where $\nu$ is the frequency of the Maxwellian wave.


But what about a single photon produced, e.g., in an electronic transition in an atom? What does the frequency or wavelength variable in its energy a wavelength or frequency of? Is it also of a classical Maxwellian wave? Meaning that a single photon has a complete plane wave associated with it?


How is this Maxwellian wave distributed over space? Is the common picture of the photon as a little sperm correct then?




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