The three faces of Maxwell�s equations

Mukunda, N and Sudarshan, ECG (1986) The three faces of Maxwell�s equations. In: Pramana, 27 (1-2). pp. 1-18.

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Abstract

In dealing with electromagnetic phenomena and in particular the phenomena of optics, despite the recognition of the quanta of light people tend to talk of the amplitudes and field strengths, as if the electromagnetic field were a classical field. For example we measure the wavelength of light by studying interference fringes. In this paper we study the inter-relationship of three ways of looking at the problem: in terms of classical wave fields, wave function of the photon; and the quantized wave field. The comparison and contrasts of these three modes of description are carefully analyzed in this paper. The ways in which these different modes complement our intuition and insight are also discussed.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Pramana
Publisher:	Indian Academy of Sciences
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Indian Academy of Sciences.
Keywords:	Maxwell’s equations;Photon wavefunction;Coherent states; Quantized Maxwell field.
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	03 Feb 2010 10:53
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:35
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/20902

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