The Photon Concept and the Physics of Quantum Absorption Process

Aims/ objectives: The consideration of the three tasks, formulated below, is the aim of the given work.

The first task of the paper presented is to analyse the existing viewpoints and to give the conclusion on the real photon status.

To represent the clear and understandable explanation of the nature of the corpuscular-wave dualism and to give an insight into physics of the photon absorption process is the second task of the given review.

The third task of the paper presented - to give the experimental proof for the Dirac theoretical conclusion, that the transitions of the quantum system from an equilibrium state to an excited state are not instantaneous and that a part of the time, related to a duration of the stay between the states can be determined.
Study design: The theory of quantum Fermi liquid, the developed Dirac quantisation method, the theory of quantum Rabi oscillations and experimental results of the stationary electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy were used.
Place and Duration of Study: Heat-Mass Transfer Institute of National Academy of Sciences of RB, Belarusian State University and M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, between January 2014 and July 2014.
Methodology: We have used the quantum 1D Fermi liquid model for the description of 1D correlated electronic systems, elaborated in the application to the quantised electromagnetic (EM) field, the Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM) of quantum Rabi oscillations, new Slepyan-Yerchak- Hoffmann-Bass model of propagating quantum Rabi oscillations and new fully quantum space-time quantisation method.
Results: The status of the photon in the modern physics is analysed. In the physics of elementary particles the photon is considered to be the genuine elementary particle. The development of the viewpoint of the experts in the quantum electrodynamics theory is considered. It was established its change from the opinion, that the description of the photon to be the particle is impossible to the viewpoint on the photon to be the particle, that is, coinciding with the viewpoint, represented in the Standard Model of the physics of elementary particles.
The quantized Maxwellian EM-field represents itself, according to the new conceptual model reviewed, the sets of 1D rays, the own structure of each ray is discrete - 1D-lattice of spin-1 bosons. Therefore, the structure of EM-field in boson model resembles the structure of the carbon frame of organic polymers like to trans-polyacetylene in the matter. Photons in the given concept are the corpuscles, propagating along EM-field boson-”atomic” chains. In other words, EM-field boson- ”atomic” chains represents themselves the medium for the photons’ propagation. In the structural aspect photons in usual conditions are chargeless spin 1/2 topological relativistic solitons of Su- Schrieffer-Heeger family. Spinless charged solitons of the same family can also be formed in socalled ”doped” EM-field structure.
The origin of waves in the EM-field boson-”atomic” structure is determined by the mechanism, being to be quite analogous to the formation of Bloch waves in the solid state of condensed matter. The expression for the corresponding wave function representing itself the set of Bloch-like waves is given. Just, the given function allows to describe correctly the wave properties of the light, including the interference. Corpuscular properties of EM-field including those ones by its interaction with matter are described by independent scalar field function obtained from the solution of Schr¨odinger equation [nonstationary in general case] and usually called wave function. The term ”wave” seems to be incorrect in application to the given function and has to be corrected in all literature on quantum theory, including textbooks.

The physics of quantum absorption process is analysed. It is argued, in accordance with Dirac guess, that the photon revival takes place by its absorption. It is concluded, that after the energy and impulse transfer to the absorbing system the photon state is a pinned state, in which it possesses the only by spin.
The reviewed rather unusual spectroscopic electron spin resonance absorption characteristics of carbon nanotubes and superconducting ceramics, obtained with the participation of the authors and of the other research groups and being earlier unexplained, were correctly interpreted within the frames of the phenomenological model of the spectroscopic transition dynamics with finite time of the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state. Moreover, it was established, that the time of the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state governs the characteristics of the stationary ESR signal registered in the carbon nanotubes and superconducting ceramics.
Conclusion: To describe correctly the EM-field properties including corpuscular-wave dualism [which is explained in a natural way] it is necessary to use the full variant of Schr¨ odinger’s theory, taking into consideration two scalar functions.
The result, that the time of the transfer of absorbing systems into an excited state governs the characteristics of the stationary ESR signal is significant for the stationary spectroscopy at all, since the transfer of absorbing systems in an excited state is considered in the stationary spectroscopy at present to be instantaneous.