Light and vacuum : the wave-particle nature of the light and the quantum vacuum through the coupling of electromagnetic theory and quantum electrodynamics / Constantin Meis (National Institute for Nuclear Science & Technology, France).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

1. Introduction -- 2. Historical survey and experimental evidence -- 3. Basic principles of the electromagnetic wave theory. 3.1. Maxwell's equations. 3.2. Electromagnetic wave propagation. 3.3. Scalar and vector potentials. 3.4. Vector potential and electromagnetic field polarization. 3.5. Guided propagation of electromagnetic waves. 3.6. Conclusion remarks -- 4. From electromagnetic waves to quantum electrodynamics. 4.1. Elements of quantum mechanics. 4.2. Harmonic oscillator in quantum mechanics. 4.3. Quantum electrodynamics (QED) and the photon description. 4.4. Interaction between electromagnetic waves and charged particles, reality of the vector potential. 4.5. Transition rates and vacuum induced spontaneous emission. 4.6. Lamb shift. 4.7. Conclusion remarks -- 5. Theory, experiments and questions. 5.1. Planck's constant and the vacuum intrinsic. 5.2. Hamiltonian issued from the quantization of the electromagnetic field. 5.3. QED singularities. 5.4. Electron-vacuum interactions and the associated effects. 5.5. Simultaneous wave-particle nature of the photon revealed by the experiments -- discussions. 5.6. Conclusion remarks -- 6. Analysis of the electromagnetic field quantization process and the photon vector potential. The non-local photon wave-particle representation and the quantum vacuum. 6.1. Quantized vector potential amplitude of a single photon state. 6.2. Quantum vacuum representation. 6.3. The quantum vacuum field effects. 6.4. Conclusion remarks.

Light and Vacuum presents a synthesis of selected fundamental topics of electromagnetic wave theory and quantum electrodynamics (QED) and analyzes the main theoretical difficulties encountered to ensure a coherent mathematical description of the simultaneous wave-particle nature of light, put in evidence by the experiments. The notion and the role of the quantum vacuum, strongly related to light, are extensively investigated. Classical electrodynamics issued from Maxwell's equations revealed the necessity of introducing the notion of volume for an electromagnetic wave to stand entailing precise values of cut-off wavelengths to account for the shape and dimensions of the surrounding space. Conversely, in QED, light is considered to be composed of point particles disregarding the conceptual question on how the frequency of oscillating electric and magnetic fields may be attributed to a point particle. To conciliate these concepts, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the author's work, including innovative contributions on the quantization of the vector potential amplitude at a single photon state, the non-local simultaneous wave-particle mathematical representation of the photon and finally the quantum vacuum. The purpose of the advanced elaborations is to raise questions, give hints and answers, and finally aspire for further theoretical and experimental studies in order to improve our knowledge and understanding on the real essence of Light and Vacuum.

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