Do just electrons emit photons?

[desta41]

You'll see why my claim of shaking charge up and down is relevant

I absolutely hear you

 

[Ralph Dratman]

When atoms and molecules are clumped together into a solid, they form a conglomerate in which the characteristics of the solid are predominately due to the collective behavior of all these atoms and molecules. What that means is that the individual behavior of the atoms and molecules are often no longer apparent in the properties of the solids.

Is radio frequency emission from a wire antenna an example of the type of collective behavior you refer to? I ask because I have not been able to find a description of antenna behavior, whether transmitting or receiving, from a quantum viewpoint. Everything about antennas seems to be discussed from a purely classical EM perspective. I don't doubt that this is the right practical approach, but I would like to see some kind of quantum treatment, if only a simple-minded description of the process by which photons are emitted from the wire.

 

[ZapperZ]

Is radio frequency emission from a wire antenna an example of the type of collective behavior you refer to? I ask because I have not been able to find a description of antenna behavior, whether transmitting or receiving, from a quantum viewpoint. Everything about antennas seems to be discussed from a purely classical EM perspective. I don't doubt that this is the right practical approach, but I would like to see some kind of quantum treatment, if only a simple-minded description of the process by which photons are emitted from the wire.

No, it is not. An antenna is described in classical E&M and a boundary condition problem. However, it shares similarities with the jiggling charge that I mentioned.

Zz.

 

[PeterDonis]

I would like to see some kind of quantum treatment, if only a simple-minded description of the process by which photons are emitted from the wire.

You're assuming that the EM field in question can be usefully modeled as "photons emitted from the wire". As I understand it, the EM wave state that is emitted is very different from the kinds of EM states that the term "photon" can be usefully applied to. (For one thing, AFAIK the wave state is not an eigenstate of the photon number operator.)