Researchers have developed a new quantum theory that for the first time defines the precise shape of a photon, showing its interaction with atoms and its environment.
This breakthrough allows for the visualization of photons and could revolutionize nanophotonic technologies, enhancing secure communication, pathogen detection, and molecular control in chemical reactions.
A groundbreaking quantum theory has allowed researchers to define the exact shape of a single photon for the first time.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham, whose work is featured in Physical Review Letters, have delved into the intricate behavior of photons — individual particles of light. Their research reveals how photons are emitted by atoms or molecules and how their shape is influenced by the surrounding environment.
Quantum Challenges and Breakthroughs
This complex interaction gives rise to infinite possibilities for light to exist and move through its surroundings. However, this vast potential makes modeling these interactions an incredibly difficult challenge—one that quantum physicists have been tackling for decades.
By grouping these possibilities into distinct sets, the Birmingham team was able to produce a model that describes not only the interactions between the photon and the emitter, but also how the energy from that interaction travels into the distant ‘far field’.
Visualizing Photons
At the same time, they were able to use their calculations to produce a visualization of the photon itself.
First author Dr. Benjamin Yuen, in the University’s School of Physics, explained: “Our calculations enabled us to convert a seemingly insolvable problem into something that can be computed. And, almost as a by-product of the model, we were able to produce this image of a photon, something that hasn’t been seen before in physics.”
Implications for Quantum Physics and Technology
The work is important because it opens up new avenues of research for quantum physicists and material science. By being able to precisely define how a photon interacts with matter and with other elements of its environment, scientists can design new nanophotonic technologies that could change the way we communicate securely, detect pathogens, or control chemical reactions at a molecular level for example.
Co-author, Professor Angela Demetriadou, also at the University of Birmingham, said: “The geometry and optical properties of the environment has profound consequences for how photons are emitted, including defining the photon’s shape, color, and even how likely it is to exist.”
Dr. Benjamin Yuen, added: “This work helps us to increase our understanding of the energy exchange between light and matter, and secondly to better understand how light radiates into its nearby and distant surroundings. Lots of this information had previously been thought of as just ‘noise’ – but there’s so much information within it that we can now make sense of, and make use of. By understanding this, we set the foundations to be able to engineer light-matter interactions for future applications, such as better sensors, improved photovoltaic energy cells, or quantum computing.”
Reference: “Exact Quantum Electrodynamics of Radiative Photonic Environments” by Ben Yuen and Angela Demetriadou, 14 November 2024, Physical Review Letters.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.203604
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46 Comments
I’m confused. Since photons move at the speed of light, according to Special Relativity, they should be an infinitely thin disk in the inertial frame of the observer in the direction of their motion. Since no observer can travel at lightspeed the shape will always be an infinitessimally thin disk. Since this is true for any possible observer does it make sense to speak of some intrinsic shape?
In the LHC relativistic protons are thin disks in the beam direction.
Hello they did not take photon’s photo, but after applying QM theory they predict its shape..
Ah yes, biblically accurate photon
Where in the bible does it describe what a single photon looks like?
Youmissedthejoke 14:34-37
VERY GOOD! They predict the shape… …
When we pursue the ultimate truth of all things, the space in which our bodies and all things exist may itself be the final and deepest puzzle we need to explore. This is not only the pursuit of physics, but also the most magnificent exploration of the origin of the universe by human reason.
Based on the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT), space is an uniformly incompressible physical entity. Space-time vortices are the products of topological phase transitions of the tipping points in space, are the point defects in spacetime. Point defects do not only impact the thermodynamic properties, but are also central to kinetic processes. They create all things and shape the world through spin and self-organization.
In today’s physics, some so-called peer-reviewed journals—including Physical Review Letters, Nature, Science, and others—stubbornly insist on and promote the following:
1. Even though θ and τ particles exhibit differences in experiments, physics can claim they are the same particle. This is science.
2. Even though topological vortices and antivortices have identical structures and opposite rotational directions, physics can define their structures and directions as entirely different. This is science.
3. Even though two sets of cobalt-60 rotate in opposite directions and experiments reveal asymmetry, physics can still define them as mirror images of each other. This is science.
4. Even though vortex structures are ubiquitous—from cosmic accretion disks to particle spins—physics must insist that vortex structures do not exist and require verification. Only the particles that like God, Demonic, or Angelic are the most fundamental structures of the universe. This is science.
5. Even though everything occupies space and maintains its existence in time, physics must still debate and insist on whether space exists and whether time is a figment of the human mind. This is science.
6. Even though space, with its non-stick, incompressible, and isotropic characteristics, provides a solid foundation for the development of physics, physics must still insist that the ideal fluid properties of space do not exist. This is science.
and go on.
Is this the counterintuitive science they widely promote? What are the shames? Contemporary physics and so-called peer-reviewed publications (including Physical Review Letters, Science, Nature, etc.) stubbornly believe that two sets of counter rotating cobalt-60 are two mirror images of each other, constructing a more shocking pseudoscientific theoretical framework in the history of science than the “geocentric model”. This pseudo scientific framework and system have seriously hindered scientific progress and social development.
For nearly a century, physics has been manipulated by this pseudo scientific theoretical system and the interest groups behind it, wasting a lot of manpower, funds, and time. A large amount of pseudo scientific research has been conducted, and countless pseudo scientific papers have been published, causing serious negative impacts on scientific and social progress, as well as humanistic development.
The branch of mathematics known as topology has become a cornerstone of modern physics. The perpetually swirling topological vortices defy traditional physics’ expectations. The development of the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) reflects a progression from concrete physical phenomena to abstract mathematical modeling and, ultimately, to interdisciplinary unification.
——Excerpted from https://t.pineal.cn/blogs/4569/An-Overview-of-the-Development-of-Topological-Vortex-Theory-TVT
You are thinking of a classical particle, not a “wavicle” of relativistic quantum field theory – they worked with quantum electrodynamics – which has some but also lacks some properties of both classical particles and of classical waves.
Somebody get in touch with me
Hi Orin, this is true for the leading edge of the wave packet only, and I kindly refer you to figure 5 of our paper where the light cone can be clearly seen. What you rarely see in particle physics is that high order (time dep. perturbation) interactions can give rise to much more slowly evolving effects when the system is sufficiently coherent (c.f. Half a Rabi cycle is approx. all terms up to 6th order). Here we see that the photon is localised by the surrounding nanophotonic environment, which has profound impact on its shape, in this kind of way.
Hi Ben, question for you. The article says your paper was able to determine the color of a photon. I don’t understand how this is possible, with color being the frequency of the photons in question.
Was this a mistake on behalf of the article writer, or is there something in your paper I’m not getting?
Color is determined by the frequency of the wave within the visible light spectra. Lower frequencies (less than heat, i.e. near infrared) becomes invisible, thus no color; as well as higher energies than ultraviolet light, such as x-rays being invisible to the human eye. Colored light (thus colored quanta, visible colored photons) is a very narrow band of light in the electromagnetic radiation spectrum.
Hiii
So what would be the color of a single photon going out front the antenna of a FM radio?????
Colors of light (electromagnetic radiation) are only defined in the narrow visible light spectrum (infrared to ultraviolet). FM (frequency modulated radio waves) are in meter lengths, thus have no visible color since it is a far, far longer wavelength than infrared light (also known as heat radiation). Thus FM radio has no color since it is not in the visible light spectrum.
Why didn’t they tell us the actual shape they predict it to be? Did I miss something?
Yes, you missed reading the paper.
[It is complicated, as they describe properties of wave packet distributions.]
I understand the building blocks that build this mockup of the photon , only one question about the shape puzzles me , is this shape 2 dimensional or 4 dimensional ? This alone could be important in any use at the experimental purpose . If the design is 2 dimensional that could have some bearing on why light doesn’t react to dark matter and can we make an assumption that dark matter is on the same plan as photons . I would also add that a 2 dimensional shape would further answer other questions that pelage other quantum effects that seem elusive to science .
A wave packet is 3D. Which has nothing to do with dark matter.
“If the design is 2 dimensional that could have some bearing on why light doesn’t react to dark matter and can we make an assumption that dark matter is on the same plan as photons ”
The photons are on the high-risk low-deductible plan. Unlike dark matter, which is on the high-deductible plan. So no they are not on the same plan, but I think the dark matter plan you will save money in the long run as long as they don’t have a catastrophic accident like getting struck by a meteor since hey, dark matter is hard to see at night…
i could of told you that…no one ever asked me about the shape…geeze oh weezy~♡
((( ❤️ ))) Thank You… This Work will Revolutionize the Field… 😇☮️❤️💥🙏
I also do not think you need to catch up to Usain Bolt just to get him photographed on the track.
Hmm, that image shows differentiation from one area to another, which would indicate internal structure.
It’s an artist’s fanciful illustration, not what you can see in the paper.
Hm, but it is the lead itself. So I dunno how much is artistic license.
I like it now research
I like it new research science
Um, actually we have seen a picture of a photon back in 2016. Polish physicist
Radoslaw Chrapkiewicz was one of them who took it and it was the shape of the Maltese cross. Sorry but someone’s wrong.
This is all well beyond my comprehension but very interesting! I have a few questions about the meaning of the image that I think might help people like me to better understand it. Is the image a representation of the electromagnetic field? What do the colors represent, do they depict field intensity or perhaps probability? What is the orientation of this image in relation to the movement of the photon, is this view parallel to its direction of propagation? As the photon’s field intensity oscillates, would this image change?
Oh woops, I didn’t notice that the image in the article isn’t even in the paper its explaining so it was probably just made up by the author to get people’s attention. Well anyway, the article does have an animated diagram that looks kind of similar so perhaps my questions are still relevant.
Yes, that.
I can see Sanscrit like alphabets are written in the photons
This looks like a human cell to me containing DNA and other organelles
That’s exactly what I saw … DNA
What this has resolved is a distorted image of a mass-energy plank quantum transformer. The true shape of the radiant photon is a 2d diamond of 2pi ajoined equilateral simplex positive and negative planck quoins. The distortion would be the result of the radiant waves propogating proportional to its suspension causing an interference pattern over the geometry in the final measurement. This is described in detail in Kelvin C. Abraham’s T-Theory (Author of Prinicpa Geometrica). Excellent that we have a new rendition of the photon. Combining the knowledge available to us is essential to achieving universal abundance
You are making things up.
This is BS pseudoscience
That is a BS pseudocomment.
They said nothing about showing this so called picture more B’s they want us to believe while hiding the truth we are photonic light and light emits from pure harmony put that in your microscope and picture it
Quantum Mechanics is the probabilistic. This researchers have given a new concept in which the direct interaction of photon- electron can be considered. It would be fitting to receive thanks if the photon theory were founded on truth. There is few doubt on the photon concept.
The postulate about momentum of a mass-less particle is a controversial topic. The mass-less particles have momentum; without proper logic the concept is not doubt free.
Max Plank [6] has given the energy equation of the radiation. Albert Einstein has used the equation for the light quanta to explain the photoelectric effect. The energy equation is as;
E = hf (J) (1)
where, h is the Plank’s constant and the f is the frequency of the photon. The energy equation of the photon is applicable for infra-red, visible ranged light, ultra violet, x-rays, gamma rays etc. The equation is not use-able for other EM waves such as long wave, medium wave, short wave and some other waves. All EM waves show similar properties of the light such as value of speed in vacuum, straight line traveling, reflection, refraction, polarization, interference, diffraction, etc. There is no such limitation of the new energy equation of the EM waves.
Light intensity is an important quantity for its applications. The intensity I at a place r can be measured using the equation below,
I=P/(4πr^2 ) (Wm-2) (2)
where, P is the total power of the light at the point of its source, and r is the distance from the light source to the intensity measurement place. Let us consider that the total N number of photons is emitted per second from a source; then at the distance r, the number of photons per square meter per second can be written as;
n=N/(4πr^2 ) (m-2s-1) (3)
The equation (3) indicates that the photon density n per second is inversely proportional with the square value of r. The photons should have a physical shape because it is a particle with a momentum according to the light quanta concept. It has a spinning motion also. Area of the wave-front of light is increased spherically with distance. If the physical size is increased with distance, then the photons radiate homogeneously in radiated place, and the fact matches with the practical for any distance. If the volume of a photon is fixed, then, the photon moves away from each other. The spacing value between photon to photon is increased with distance. At a distance, the photons can be separated from each other and a pattern should be generated on a screen with its two dimensional image which is undiscovered till now.
On other hand, let us consider an electron transit from one orbit to another orbit then a single photon is radiated with certain energy. The photon is spread in three dimensions spherically. It is a single photon so, how is it possible to spread in three dimensional? Increasing of the physical size is only the solution in this case also. How will the spin of the single photon will be occurred when its body is increased continuously?
The photon concept cannot determine the ejection direction of the photo-electron and cannot give any information about it also. The photon energy equation (1), is not vector related. So, the concept fails to explain the ejection direction.
Einstein has shown that the kinetic energy of the photo-electrons is frequency dependent but intensity independent. He considered that “the light is not continuous energy; it is separated by parts called light corpuscles (photons). The photon contains momentum. The light particle is converted energy into the electron of the cathode and accordingly enough energetic electrons are ejected.” He wishes to say that the electron is ejected by an elastic collision between photon and electron. More intensity means a greater number of photons. According to the photon concept the energy is proportional to the frequency only. So, huge photons cannot increase the kinetic energy of a photo-electron. The practical fact does not support Einstein’s logic. The kinetic energy is increased with increased light intensity.
The Auger electron spectrum is used for the elemental study in which the element is identified by the pick position of the spectral line. The Auger electron emission is a characteristic phenomenon. A standard Auger spectrum helps to identify the energy position of each element. Although the energy of an Auger electrons is prominent, it is often observed that a shifting of the prominent energy. It may be a conceptual problem about the energy equation of the photon concept.
The photon wave is a special wave; it has no amplitude. Although the wave concept of the photon is important to increase its range of application, however the amplitude problem may reduce its feasibility. An analog or digital signal rides on the carrier’s amplitude in the amplitude modulation process of the telecommunications. In this case the frequency of the signal is very less than the frequency of the carrier wave. Using the process, all EM waves such as the visible ranged light, x-ray and gamma ray etc. can role play as the carrier wave for appropriate signals. The amplitude modulation is not explainable for the photon wave for absence of its amplitude.
The photon concept could not explain the wave behaviors of the light from its invention period to 1924. De Broglie proposed that a particle moves as a wave when its velocity is very large e.g., comparable with light speed. The concept defends the photon concept; because using this idea the photon concept is able to explain the interference like phenomena. According to the De Broglie concept, the momentum (p) of a particle (or photon) is as;
p= h/lambda (kgms-1). (4)
Here, h is the Plank’s constant, is the wavelength of the photon. There is an inconsistency in the relation of the phase velocity Vp and group velocity Vg which derived from De Broglie hypothesis. The equation is as;
C^2=Vp Vg (m2s-2) (5)
Usually, the group velocity is less than the light velocity. So, the equation exhibits that the phase velocity must be greater than the speed of light, C. As the postulate of relativity, anything cannot exceed the speed of light.
The light is continuous electromagnetic (EM) wave energy. When many EM waves are mixed with different frequencies then the EM fields form as resultant shape but the waves can be separated by a separation equipment. Solar spectrum is continuous energy although it shows a lot of dark lines. These dark lines are because of absorption of that particular frequency by some atoms or molecules on the way of the path of light. However, the transitions of the many electrons from many orbits of the atoms of plasma state create the solar spectrum. The continuous light is not separated by any equipment. It is difficult to explain the continuous spectrum by the photon concept but the EM wave concept can explain it easily.
Special relativity predicts that even massless particles must have momentum, and it gives a formula E^2 = (pc)^2 + (mc^2) where this is a fact.
You are likely misapplying the more popular but somewhat misleading description E=mc^2.
Oops: E^2 = (pc)^2 + (mc^2)^2.
Many researchers have proved that the theories of relativity are illogical.
The light is electromagnetic wave only. You may read the papers below:
1. The frequency has been added to the Poynting Vector.
Results in Physics, 7 (2017) 435–439, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2017.01.006. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211379716302170
2. Explaination of the photoelectric effect by the modified EM wave concept.
Optik, 181 (2019) 802-809, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2018.12.144. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0030402618320783
3. A professor had criticized our explanation of the photoelectric effect. We have refuted his comments.
Optik, 202 (2020) 163734, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2019.163734. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0030402619316328
4. Derivation of the power equation of the monopole antenna based on the modified EM wave concept.
Physica Scripta 96 (2021) 015502, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/abc509. URL: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1402-4896/abc509
5. Determination of ejection angle and depth of photoelectron.
Journal of Modern Optics, 68[16] (2021) 878-885, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09500340.2021.1957168 URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500340.2021.1957168
6. Phase difference between electric and magnetic fields (is 90 degrees).
Optik, 247 (2021) 167862, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2021.167862. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0030402621014431
7. We have applied our modified EM wave concept to the efficient rectenna solar cells.
Physica Scripta, Volume 97(6), (2022) 065505, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/ac6f26. URL: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1402-4896/ac6f26
8. Transition of orbital electrons based on the modified EM wave concept.
Optics, Vol. 4 (2023), 258–271. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/opt4020018. URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-3269/4/2/18
A theory is just that, an unproven idea… Especillally when you use other unproven theories to develope your new ideas.
Accepted scientific theories are well tested (“proven”) – you are confusing them with the vernacular “theory” which is pretty much the opposite.
It has shape, it have mass.