EM Waves Vs Photons: Can Physical Explanations Explain All?

[rjbeery]

Are there any EM wave behaviors that cannot be explained in a purely physical, "photonic" manner? I'm speaking specifically of the photon's path from emitter to absorber, irrespective of "why" that path was taken (in other words, the double-slit experiment does not qualify in the context of my question). Basically, is the attached picture ever possible?

 

[mikelepore]

That picture looks to me like a representation of a polarized wave going through a polarizing material only if the axis is in the right direction.

 

[rjbeery]

The picture was an attempt at showing an EM wave doing an "end run" around the edge of an otherwise impenetrable material (a very thin wall, for example). Notice that a photon traveling in a direct path between the emitter and the absorber would not be capable of doing this. Is there evidence that this ever occurs? I'm asking for direct evidence of wave-like behavior.

 

[Cantab Morgan]

Are you asking, does light ever display behavior that a shower of bullets can't? The answer is yes. Consider diffraction.

If I remember my history correctly, the Airy disk was predicted mathematically before it was observed experimentally. When it was demonstrated soon thereafter, the corpuscular theory of light was demolished.

 

[rjbeery]

Cantab: I will look into it, thanks so much. Any other ideas?

 

[jtbell]

photon traveling in a direct path

What makes you think photons travel in direct paths, or indeed in any well-defined path at all?

Quantum theory doesn't address the question, "which path does a photon (or any other particle) take?" That is the subject of interpretations of quantum theory, about which there is no general agreement.

 

[Nick89]

In each case, an EM-wave such as the one you drew is NOT a photon bobbing up and down.

 

[rjbeery]

jtbell: I find it interesting to assume a fully and objectively realistic world that exists without our involvement. I test my theories by asking questions. Yes, this is the subject of interpretations but, regardless of whether we are unable to ever know the answer, this should not mean that a "true" answer does not exist.

Nick89: Thanks for helping this non-Physicist but I understand that the photon itself does not "bob". I'm curious to know whether there are circumstances inexplicable by straight-traveling particles (or a "shower of bullets" as Cantab described them).

I was thinking along the lines of maybe a shadow which was diffracted along its edges, but shadow diffraction occurs on Earth due to molecular scattering from the air. Basically my question could be answered if I knew whether a shadow has a distinct edge in a vacuum. I think.