Bennett, R, Barlow, TM and Beige, A (2016) A physically motivated quantization of the electromagnetic field. European Journal of Physics, 37 (1). 014001. ISSN 0143-0807
Abstract
The notion that the electromagnetic field is quantized is usually inferred from observations such as the photoelectric effect and the black-body spectrum. However accounts of the quantization of this field are usually mathematically motivated and begin by introducing a vector potential, followed by the imposition of a gauge that allows the manipulation of the solutions of Maxwell's equations into a form that is amenable for the machinery of canonical quantization. By contrast, here we quantize the electromagnetic field in a less mathematically and more physically motivated way. Starting from a direct description of what one sees in experiments, we show that the usual expressions of the electric and magnetic field observables follow from Heisenberg's equation of motion. In our treatment, there is no need to invoke the vector potential in a specific gauge and we avoid the commonly used notion of a fictitious cavity that applies boundary conditions to the field.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
Keywords: | field quantization; quantum optics; quantum electrodynamics |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Theoretical Physics (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 30 Mar 2016 12:28 |
Last Modified: | 30 Mar 2016 12:28 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0143-0807/37/1/014001 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | European Physical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1088/0143-0807/37/1/014001 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:96642 |