Can Photons Have Acceleration? The Uncertainty Principle and the Speed of Light

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    Accelleration Photon
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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the concept of whether photons can have acceleration, particularly in the context of their emission and propagation. Participants explore the implications of the speed of light and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle on this topic.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that photons might have a certain acceleration value when light is turned on, questioning the nature of photon propagation.
  • Another participant clarifies that photons are emitted at the speed of light (c) as a result of electron transitions in atoms, implying no acceleration occurs during this process.
  • A different viewpoint raises uncertainty about the time it takes for a photon to be emitted or captured, proposing that it could either be a very short period or instantaneous.
  • One participant introduces the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, stating that knowing the energy of a photon limits the ability to know the time of its creation or absorption, which may relate to the discussion of acceleration.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of photon emission and whether acceleration is applicable. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing perspectives presented.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations regarding the assumptions about the nature of photons, the definitions of acceleration in this context, and the implications of the uncertainty principle that remain unresolved.

pixel01
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Well, there has been another thread about the accelleration of photon, but it is when the photon move from one medium to another. Now i just imagine when i start to turn the light bulb on, the light also starts to propagate at c. So should photons have a certain accelleration value consequently?
 
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No, roughly speaking, when you turn on the light bulb the electrons in the filament atoms become excited, when they de-excite they emit photons corresponding to the change in energy levels. These photons are by definition traveling at c.
 
Photons are emitted and captured at c.

What isn't clear to me is the time it takes for a photon to be emitted or captured. Assuming that a photon isn't infinitely small, then it could take a very short period of time to be emitted or captured. The other possibility is that photons are emitted and captured instantaneously (corresponding to an instantaneous change in the energy state of an electron).
 
Do not forget the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
You can't know energy and time precisely. The product of the time incertitude and the energy incertitude will be greater or equal to h/4pi:
[tex]\Delta t\cdot \Delta E \ge {h\over 4\pi}[/tex]
h is the Plank's constant.
Then, if you know exactly the energy of the photon you know nothing about the time of creation or of absorption.
 
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