Vector potential quantization and the photon intrinsic electromagnetic properties towards nondestructive photon detection

Constantin Meis (1) , Pierre-Richard Dahoo (2)

1 INSTN - Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires
2 PLANETO - LATMOS

We employ here the enhancement of the vector potential amplitude quantization at a single photon state. The analysis of the general solution of the vector potential, obtained by resolving Maxwell's equations, implies that the amplitude is proportional to the angular frequency. The photon vector potential function α_kλ<(r,t) can be written in the plane wave representation satisfying the classical wave propagation equation, Schrödinger's equation for the energy with the relativistic massless field Hamiltonian and a linear time-dependent equation for the vector potential amplitude operator. Thus, the vector potential α_kλ<(r,t) with the quantized amplitude may play the role of a real wave function for the photon in a nonlocal representation that can be suitably normalized. We then deduce that the amplitudes of the electric and magnetic fields, respectively, of a single free photon are proportional to the square of the angular frequency. This might open perspectives for the development of nondestructive photon detection methods based on the influence of the electric and/or magnetic fields of photons on the energy levels of atoms and molecules.

Domaines: Electromagnétisme

Constantin Meis, Pierre-Richard Dahoo. Vector potential quantization and the photon intrinsic electromagnetic properties towards nondestructive photon detection. International Journal of Quantum Information, 2017, 15 (8), art. 1740003 (5 p.). ⟨10.1142/S0219749917400032⟩. ⟨insu-01620683⟩