The Nature of Photons: Wave Packets, Existence & Manipulation

[Glynis]

Can anyone tell me the true nature of a photon? One physicist tells me they don´t exist, another says they vary in size and now I am told they are paired masses. When I originally asked if one could split the photon, I thought it was partially material, i.e. consisting of colour with an element of weight and partially made out of, well, energy. I would also like to know if photons can be artifically manipulated, especially with regard to their size? I choose to call them wave packets. Would this be correct?

 

[jdg812]

I choose to call them wave packets. Would this be correct?

If you are in the territory of semi-classical physicists, that would be correct. But if you are in the territory of QFT physicists, never call them "wave packets", they may shoot you...

 

[malawi_glenn]

Of course the photon exists :P

A photon is a photon, and we can assign models to describe a photon.

In the standard model the photon is a massless spin 1 particle with no internal structure (a point-particle, just as the quarks and leptons) etc..

 

[strangerep]

Can anyone tell me the true nature of a photon?

Hmmm. Yes, but you'll need to master quite a lot of quantum field theory to
understand the entire answer. :-(

One physicist tells me they don´t exist,

Well, the theory of quanta of the electromagnetic field (quantum electrodynamics)
is one of the most stunningly accurate theories on Earth, so it's hard to guess
(out of context) what that physicist meant.

another says they vary in size

A photon is an eigenstate of the "number operator" in quantum electrodynamics.
It is therefore also an eigenstate of the energy-momentum operator. I.e: it has
determinate energy and momentum. But by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle,
that implies its position is totally indeterminate. However, one can prepare quantum
states of the electromagnetic field which have a minimum (but non-zero) uncertainty
in momentum and position simultaneously (these roughly correspond to a laser beam).
For such states the number of photons is indeterminate. Heuristically, you might
think of these states as wave packets, -- but only heuristically. Only the full theory
of quantum electrodynamics (or rather, the Standard Model) can tell the whole story.

Although the quantized EM field is structure-less (i.e., not composed of anything more
fundamental as far as we know) it can be misleading to say a photon is a "point particle",
because that implies it exists at one point of space only. However, as explained above, the
position of a single photon is totally indeterminate.

now I am told they are paired masses.

I'm guessing you were told about how a (high-energy) photon can turn into
an electron-positron pair. That's not quite the whole story. A photon in isolation
doesn't do this (it would violate conservation of energy-momentum). However,
during interactions with other things, it can occur. But this doesn't mean
that the photon is "composed" of an electron and positron.

When I originally asked if one could split the photon, I thought it was partially
material, i.e. consisting of colour with an element of weight and partially made out of, well, energy.

The colour corresponds to the frequency $\nu$, which also corresponds to the
energy E via Planck's relationship: $E = h \nu$ where h is Planck's constant.

I don't know what you mean by "partially material". The photon's rest mass is zero.

Fundamental particles are not "made" out of energy. Rather, "energy" is one of their
properties that we can measure experimentally.

I would also like to know if photons can be artifically manipulated, especially
with regard to their size? [...]

People who work in quantum optics prepare strange states of light all the time,
in all sorts of configurations. But these states consist of a superposition of photons.