Light And Vacuum The Wave Particle Nature Of The Light And The Quantum Vacuum Electromagnetic Theory And Quantum Electrodynamics Beyond The Standard Model Second Edition

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. In this new edition, the bibliography has been widely enriched. Improvements have been made to the various chapters, taking into account the actual status of the knowledge in this field.

"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. In this new edition, the bibliography has been widely enriched. Improvements have been made to the various chapters, taking into account the actual status of the knowledge in this field."--Publisher's website.

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. Contents:IntroductionHistorical Survey and Experimental EvidenceBasic Principles of the Electromagnetic Wave TheoryFrom Electromagnetic Waves to Quantum ElectrodynamicsTheory, Experiments and QuestionsAnalysis of the Electromagnetic Field Quantization Process and the Photon Vector Potential. The Non-Local Photon Wave-Particle Representation and the Quantum VacuumEpilogue Readership: This book is recommended for advanced postgraduate students and researchers who are interested in Quantum Mechanics and Electrodynamics. Key Features:The main mathematical ambiguities of the quantum electrodynamics formalism are clearly put in evidence, such as: derivation of the Hamiltonian without respecting Heisenberg's commutation relations, lack of an interaction Hamiltonian between the vacuum state and the electrons, singularities … etc.The basic aspect of Quantum Electrodynamics related to the quantization of the vector potential amplitude of the electromagnetic field to a single photon state α0k (ωk) = ξωk, which derives directly from Maxwell's equations, is uniquely described in this manuscriptA coherent mathematical coupling of the electromagnetic wave theory and quantum electrodynamics is fully provided resulting in a unique simultaneous wave particle formalism for the photon, in agreement with the experimental evidenceThe quantum vacuum issues arise naturally from the vector potential quantization procedure and corresponds to a very low energy density, compatible with recent astrophysical observations. Furthermore, it is explicitly expressed as a function of creation and annihilation operators permitting direct interactions with the electronsKeywords:Light;Electromagnetic Field;Second Quantization;Photons;Electrons;Quantum Vacuum

Forces of the Quantum Vacuum presents a number of theoretical approaches to Casimir, van der Waals and Casimir–Polder forces that have been fruitfully employed in mainstream research, and also reviews the experimental evidence for Casimir forces. Beginning with basic ideas in quantum mechanics and building its way to a sophisticated form of macroscopic QED, the book provides an inspiring training manual for graduate students to develop in a natural progression the ideas needed for modern theoretical research on Casimir forces.

Milonni describes the concept of the vacuum in quantum physics with an emphasis on quantum electrodynamics. He elucidates in depth and detail the role of the vacuum electromagnetic field in spontaneous emission, the Lamb shift, van der Waals, and Casimir forces, and a variety of other phenomena, some of which are of technological as well as purely scientific importance. This informative text also provides an introduction based on fundamental vacuum processes to the ideas of relativistic quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory, including renormalization and Feynman diagrams. Experimental as well as theoreticalaspects of the quantum vacuum are described, and in most cases details of mathematical derivations are included.

From September 24 through 30, 1992 the Workshop on "Waves and Parti cles in Light and Matter" was held in the Italian city of Trani in celebration of the centenary of Louis de Broglie's birth. As is well known, the relationship between quantum theory and ob jective reality was one of the main threads running through the researches of this French physicist. It was therefore in a fitting tribute to him on his 90th birthday that ten years ago an international conference on the same subject was convened in Perugia. On that occasion, physicists from all over the world interested in the problematics of wave-particle duality engaged in thoughtful debates (the proceedings of which were subsequently published) on recent theoretical and experimental developments in our understanding of the foundations of quantum mechanics. This time around, about 120 scientists, coming from 5 continents, in the warm and pleasant atmosphere of Trani's Colonna Conference Center focussed their discussions on recent results concerned with the EPR para dox, matter-interferometry, reality of de Broglie's waves, photon detection, macroscopic quantum coherence, alternative theories to usual quantum mechanics, special relativity, state reduction, and other related topics. The workshop was organized in plenary sessions, round tables, and poster sessions, and the present volume collects most-but not all-of the presented papers. A number of acknowledgements are due. We thank, first of all, the contributors, without whose constant dedication this volume could not have been published.