Undergrad Energy and momentum of a photon in a medium

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The discussion centers on the differing views regarding the energy and momentum of photons in a medium, referencing two contrasting papers. One paper claims that a photon's energy depends on the medium while its momentum does not, while the other suggests the opposite. The debate is linked to the classical Abraham-Minkowski controversy, which involves differing interpretations of how electromagnetic wave momentum changes in a medium. The resolution of this controversy requires considering both the momentum of the medium and the electromagnetic wave, leading to a more complete understanding. The conversation also hints at the complexity of resolving these issues in quantum mechanics, suggesting that similar principles may apply but with more intricate mathematics involved.
weafq
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Does energy and / or momentum of a photon change in a medium
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However I have not read the articles, I would say the third statement : neither energy nor momentum depend on medium. Medium is made of atoms or ions in vacuum. There photons mostly travel in vacuum and rarely interact with distributed atoms or ions. We may think of moving in vacuum and interaction with atoms separetely.
 
I don’t know for single photons, but this particular dilemma is part of classical EM.

For classical EM it is called the Abraham Minkowski controversy. The controversy is basically just that both Abraham and Minkowski have plausible arguments but Minkowski argued that the momentum of an EM wave increases as it enters a transparent medium while Abraham argued that it decreases.

The classical controversy is resolved by considering the momentum of the medium also. The energy and momentum tensor of the EM wave and the material are each individually incomplete. Only the total tensor is well defined.

For details on the resolution of the classical controversy see Peiffer et al https://arxiv.org/abs/0710.0461

I imagine that the essence of the quantum version of this will be resolved similarly, albeit with a bunch more complicated math.
 
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weafq said:
According to this paper: ht
Which is nonsense in a predatory journal.
 
I am slowly going through the book 'What Is a Quantum Field Theory?' by Michel Talagrand. I came across the following quote: One does not" prove” the basic principles of Quantum Mechanics. The ultimate test for a model is the agreement of its predictions with experiments. Although it may seem trite, it does fit in with my modelling view of QM. The more I think about it, the more I believe it could be saying something quite profound. For example, precisely what is the justification of...

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