PIRSA:08080083

Outreach: ISSYP Virtual

Epp, R. (2008). Quantum Mechanics 8 - What is a Photon? . Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/08080083

Epp, Richard. Quantum Mechanics 8 - What is a Photon? . Perimeter Institute, Aug. 12, 2008, https://pirsa.org/08080083 

@misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:08080083,
  doi = {},
  url = {https://pirsa.org/08080083},
  author = {Epp, Richard},
  keywords = {},
  language = {en},
  title = {Quantum Mechanics 8 - What is a Photon? },
  publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
  year = {2008},
  month = {aug},
  note = {PIRSA:08080083 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
}

Abstract

By applying our understanding of the quantum harmonic oscillator to the electromagnetic field we learn what a photon is, and are introduced to “quantum field theory” and the amazing “Casimir effect.”
Learning Outcomes:
• Understanding that classical electromagnetic waves bouncing around inside a mirrored box will exist as standing waves with only certain allowed frequencies.
• How each of these standing waves oscillates harmonically, and thus why – at the quantum level – their energies must be discrete, which is interpreted as the presence of a discrete number of photons.
• What the zero point energy of the electromagnetic field represents, and its relationship to a remarkable property of the quantum vacuum called the “Casimir effect.”

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