What is Photon frequency: Definition and 13 Discussions

The photon (Greek: φῶς, phōs, light) is a type of elementary particle. It is the quantum of the electromagnetic field including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless, so they always move at the speed of light in vacuum, 299792458 m/s (or about 186,282 mi/s). The photon belongs to the class of bosons.
Like all elementary particles, photons are currently best explained by quantum mechanics and exhibit wave–particle duality, their behavior featuring properties of both waves and particles. The modern photon concept originated during the first two decades of the 20th century with the work of Albert Einstein, who built upon the research of Max Planck. While trying to explain how matter and electromagnetic radiation could be in thermal equilibrium with one another, Planck proposed that the energy stored within a material object should be regarded as composed of an integer number of discrete, equal-sized parts. To explain the photoelectric effect, Einstein introduced the idea that light itself is made of discrete units of energy. In 1926, Gilbert N. Lewis popularized the term photon for these energy units. Subsequently, many other experiments validated Einstein's approach.In the Standard Model of particle physics, photons and other elementary particles are described as a necessary consequence of physical laws having a certain symmetry at every point in spacetime. The intrinsic properties of particles, such as charge, mass, and spin, are determined by this gauge symmetry. The photon concept has led to momentous advances in experimental and theoretical physics, including lasers, Bose–Einstein condensation, quantum field theory, and the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics. It has been applied to photochemistry, high-resolution microscopy, and measurements of molecular distances. Recently, photons have been studied as elements of quantum computers, and for applications in optical imaging and optical communication such as quantum cryptography.

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  1. N

    B Planck Length: Upper Limit on Photon Frequency & Momentum

    Is it known how much momentum a photon possesses if it's wavelength is at the Planck length, and what happens if it's momentum is somehow increased from that?
  2. Y

    I How to get plot (optical gain of GaAs)?

    How can i calculate this plot (photon energy dependence of the optical gain (or loss = negative gain) of GaAs with the injected carrier density as a parameter? Show calculated plot based on this equation Given parameter: mc=0.067 me; (effective mass of electrons in conduction band) mv=0.48...
  3. D

    Frequency dependence of gravitational acceleration

    Imagine a massive object emitting photons of various frequencies. Because the object is massive, it will exert gravitational acceleration on those photons. Because the energy of a photon is proportional to its frequency, it seems that higher-frequency photons will experience a higher magnitude...
  4. A

    Why must an electron-positron collision produce gamma rays?

    Or, more specifically, what determinates the frequency of the photons emitted by a such a collision. I know that the number of photons produced depends on the spin and energy states of the initial particles.
  5. P

    What is the frequency of virtual photons involved in magnetism?

    Greetings, I majored in physics for 1 year at RPI (Troy NY) in 1974, but found more important things to do for many years thereafter, and have recently returned to college, first at ITT-Tech(Computer Electronic Technology) and then Sage College of Albany (Computer Information...
  6. A

    Relation between QED photon frequency and classical EM frequency

    Hello, I read the Feynman's QED book, where I learned that a photon has a intrinsic property called frequency. This property affect, for example, the interference profile when we have a lot of photon together. Ok. Now, thinking on an conventional antenna. When we have a 100kHz signal on...
  7. M

    Photon frequency in different inertial frames

    Do we measure different frequencies of light in frames moving relatively at constant velocities? Because when we look at an annihilation reaction from the view of different frames, we see different energies of the reactants which seem to affect the frequency of the produced photons. your kind...
  8. M

    Difference between photon frequency and the light frequency?

    The frequency of a photon is determined by the energy emitted by an electron when falling from one shell to a lower one divided by Planck's constant. First, how does a single fall of one electron cause a frequency? I would think the electron would have to jiggle up and down to bring about a...
  9. F

    Photon frequency boosting materials

    I've been reading about fluorescence and I understand how the band-gap accounts for reemission of photons at a longer wavelength. However, can a material store a photon, and then given an external energy source reemit at a shorter wavelength? I'm imagining an electrified "glass" that could...
  10. E

    What is the Frequency in Einstein's Quantum Expression?

    Einstein’s discovery that a photon has a finite quantum of energy proportional to its discrete frequency, and the representation of that photon as a wave packet, gives me a problem. E = h ν The photon packet waveform surely must have a beginning and an end? It is probably continuous, etc...
  11. U

    Photon frequency change taking recoil into account

    Homework Statement Show that if atom's recoil in transition is \frac{p^2}{2m}, the emitted photon's frequency changes by a factor of 1-\frac{\Delta E}{2mc^2}. Homework Equations Recoil momentum p = \frac{hf}{c} m = mass of the atom p = momentum of the electron The Attempt at a...
  12. N

    What IS happening with photon frequency?

    Admittedly, I know nothing about the math in quantum physics But there's something bothering me- what IS oscillating in the photon? Nobody makes it clear. Is it the energy of the photon? But that would mean that the photon has less energy when the wave is at the middle, and more energy when the...
  13. rcgldr

    Photon frequency loss over time?

    I remember reading an article many years ago that there was a theory that part of the red-shift we observe from far away galaxy's could be do to a time (or distance) related reduction in frequency of light, in addition to the "doppler" effect. Has this theory ever re-surfaced again (it may have...
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