ua nt - p h / 04 10 17 9 v 2 2 8 Ju l 2 00 5 Understanding light quanta : The Photon Alberto

An antisymmetric tensor, the photon tensor, is defined for the description of the photon as a massless relativistic particle. The classical photon can then be visualized as an essentially two dimensional rotating object. The quantummechanical description of a single photon is presented and the wave-particle duality for the photon is analysed. The intended relation between Schrödinger’s equation for the photon with Maxwell’s equations is discussed. This work is devoted to the attempt to understand the quantum of electromagnetic radiation, based on the assumption that the photons are the primary ontology and that the electromagnetic fields are macroscopic emergent properties of an ensemble of photons.