On Thursday, September 4, 2025 at 9:53:22 PM UTC-6 Brent Meeker wrote:
On 9/4/2025 8:10 PM, Alan Grayson wrote: On Thursday, September 4, 2025 at 6:54:57 PM UTC-6 Brent Meeker wrote: On 9/4/2025 6:24 AM, Alan Grayson wrote: On Thursday, September 4, 2025 at 4:38:50 AM UTC-6 John Clark wrote: On Wed, Sep 3, 2025 at 6:53 PM Alan Grayson <[email protected]> wrote: *>> |E|^2 gives the relative probabilities of detecting a photon at different points on the screen, it gives you the correct curve shape but is not normalized so all the probabilities don't add up to exactly one. To make it a true probability distribution that integrates to 1 you divide |E|^2 by a constant, the total integrated intensity across the screen.* *> But this E is the classical energy, and when the EM field is quantized don't we need a huge number of photons to define the curve you reference above?* *If you are able to calculate the probability distribution for where a single photon is likely to deliver its quantum of energy after passing through two slits, then you will be able to calculate how the energy will be distributed across the entire screen for any finite number of photons that passes through those two slits.* *> Is there a differential equation that when solved, gives us the wf of a RELATIVISTIC particle?* *If you start with Maxwell's Equations then you get that automatically because, although they were discovered a decade before Einstein was born, they are 100% compatible with both Special and General Relativity. Interestingly they are NOT compatible with Newtonian physics because Newton claimed that all speed was relative, but Maxwell's Equations can produce an absolute speed, the speed of light, and there are no specifications about who should observe that speed, so everybody must. Resolving that inconsistency was the motivation Einstein had for developing relativity; he made no changes to Maxwell's Equations, he thought they were fine just as they are, instead he modified Newtonian physics. * *But ME's describe the behavior of the EM field, not the relativistic behavior of a particle. So I pose my question above again. TY, AG* They also describe the energy propagation of the EM field. And given the known energy per photon that implies the probability distribution of the photons. > *Is there an equation that gives the wf of a photon? TY, AG * *As I explained before, the electromagnetic field amplitude can take on the role of a photon’s probability amplitude.* *But this is within the context of the double slit experiment. If there is a wf for a photon, it should be, I think, independent of any experimental set up. AG * No, it is *not* only in the context of the double slit experiment. The context of the double slit experiment is supplied by initial conditions. Brent *What initial conditions could yield a similar result that we get for a free non-relativistic particle; namely, that the wf spreads over time so its position probability becomes progressively uncertain? * The initial condition that the wave function is spherically symmetric. *So No, I don't agree that applying the double slit will yield a wf * The double slit doesn't "yield a wf". It implies an initial condition *for a photon which supports a similar result as in the case just mentioned. And I am beginning to suspect that we have no equation, the solution of which gives us the wf of a RELATIVISTIC particle, or a PHOTON. If such equations exist, plesae post them. TY, AG* You want me to waste 15m typing in a lot of display math just so you can see a bunch of equations? Go look'em up. Brent *I tried that, but nothing came up. If they have names, please name the names. They must have names. AG * -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/f753bb71-a4f3-4981-8fee-2294e62b7e46n%40googlegroups.com.
