A photon is particle characterizing a quantum of light or any other electromagnetic radiation. Generally, the term photon is used to illustrate the whole electromagnetic spectrum. It seems like a point-like particle because it is absorbed or released as a whole by arbitrary minute systems which are much smaller than its wavelength. Photons exhibit wave-particle duality i.e. displaying properties of both waves and particles though this is difficult to visualize without laboratory equipment. They display clearly wave-like phenomena like diffraction and interference on the length scale of its wavelength. In the same way as all elementary particles, photons are presently explained by quantum mechanics. They are described as an essential outcome of physical laws having a particular symmetry at every point in space-time. The concept of photons has led to significant developments in experimental and hypothetical physics such as lasers, quantum field theory, and the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics. In the recent past, photons have been studied as components of quantum computers and for complicated applications in ocular communication such as quantum cryptography.
A photon has neither mass nor electric charge but has the stability. It has two possible polarization states and is described by its wave vector in the momentum representation which subsequently determines its wavelength and its propagation direction. The photon is the measurement boson for electromagnetism and as such, all other quantum numbers of the photon such as lepton number and flavor quantum numbers are zero. Photons are released in several natural resources such as during the acceleration of charge that produces synchrotron radiation. A photon can also be produced when a particle and its equivalent antiparticle are annihilated. It moves at the velocity of light in space and as such its energy and force are directly related. Photons can be riveted by nuclei, atoms, or molecules initiating transitions between their energy levels. The description of the photon can be functional to the whole electromagnetic spectrum ranging from radio waves to gamma rays. In simple terms, a photon is formed in the circumstance that a subatomic particle has a lot of energy and has to get rid of a small portion. The particle does so by emitting a photon that comes in terms of energy.
The lifecycle of a photon entails the creation and the disappearance of the photon. All photons behave the same typically. They travel at the same speed in space producing energies that can differ over ten orders of magnitude ranging from the very small energies of radio waves to the extremely high energies of gamma rays produced from the nuclei of radioactive atoms. Whenever light is depicted as a flow of particle, then such particles are called photons. Each photon carries a distinct packet of energy. The intensity of a beam of fixed energy photons determines the number of photons produced per second. On the other hand, light can be illustrated as waves and the distance between the waves, and the wavelengths are inversely proportional to the energy being produced. Light can be described as a photon or as an electromagnetic wave which can be pictured as oscillating electric and magnetic fields that travel in a straight line at a constant speed. However, sound waves are not branded with photons and are not a component of the electromagnetic spectrum. This is because light travels in a space whereas sound that is a vibration of air molecules cannot exist in space. Though both light and sound exhibit the wave behavior, their mechanisms are totally different.
Light illustrated as photons enables an individual to see the absorption-disappearance process of light. The interaction of a photon with an electron in a solid, also known as the photoelectric effect, of a photon on a surface demonstrates the particle characteristic of light. The photon has energy but has no mass and as such fades away on giving up all its energy to an electron. On the other hand, the electron has both mass and charge thereby they carry an electrical current. At intense energies and in this case millions and millions of electron votes of energy, photons can create electrons. The enormous energy photon otherwise known as a gamma ray emits an electron and its anti-particle called the positron that is positively charged and has the same mass as an electron. When an electron and the positron are formed, the high energy photon disappears. The electron positron pair is formed by the annihilation of a gamma ray. The electron and positron which are oppositely charged particles can recombine with each other and vanish with the formation of a photon. In the presence of observable light, the photons are absorbed and fade away. They give their energies to the outermost atomic electrons which are only held in place by energies of a small number of electron volts. The path of light is reversible and as such, a photon in air incident on glass would be refracted at the air/glass edge. Similarly, a photon in glass incident on air would follow the same path in reverse and have the photon refracted at the glass/air boundary. The same reversibility characteristic is evident in the interaction of photons and electrons, and also in pair production. When an electron and positron merge and disappear, energy appears as a gamma ray.
The photon is the basic exchangeable unit of energy and cannot be created nor can it be destroyed. It can only be converted from one form or energy into another. At very high energy, it can turn into matter and anti matter. This happens when in the circumstance that a reaction occurs and releases energy from or whenever energy is absorbed and transformed into matter in a process called causation. An individual photon exists in alternately moving across the imaginary line dividing the universe from the parallel universe since the two have inverse forces that happen between them. As such, the neutrality of a photon is never successfully achieved. More so, the structure of a photon can infinitely broken down. Therefore, the life cycle of a photon basically states that the photon’s structure is symmetrical and it is exposed to forces of the universe for the same amount of time as the parallel forces. However, some argue that the photon does not loose energy. As a matter of fact, photons have no time in their own frame of reference. Their emission and absorption occur simultaneously no matter how much time elapses. Moreover, just in the same manner in which photons travel on null paths, their speed is the same regardless their wavelength. As such, two light waves travelling in the same direction and have different frequencies will be frozen in the same relative manner. This explains why time does not elapse or pass for photons.
The lifecycle/ life and death/ creation and disappearance of a photon are contained in the contact of photons and electrons. The electron loses energy and forms a photon that moves in space where it bumps into an electron and vanishes. The electrons are particles that are charged and have a mass and as such, they alter energy but do not vanish. On the other hand, photons have neither mass nor charge and as such, they appear and disappear. They are predicted to lack mass and any electric charge since the quanta of an Abelian measurement field must have no mass ant their bosons are un-charged as long the symmetry is intact. Vision also plays a huge role in the lifecycle of the photon. We as normal human beings detect or are able to see objects by the reflection of light from them. The reflected light goes into the eye and prompts the photoreceptors to relay a signal to the brain. The photon vanishes in offering its energy to the photoreceptor. A photon has both magnetic and energetic properties. Although photons seem to be united in what is seen as a continuous light stream, they are individual wave particles and maintain themselves by internal paths. The unity of photons between light streams happens between magnetic loops. Photons are stable and their time dilation mean that they do not age as a single photon travels at the speed of light. Their life can come to an end in two ways. First, the modest energy ones can be absorbed by atoms and bump electrons up to a higher level and secondly the high energy ones can transmute into electron positron pairs.
Light has an indefinite existence unless something absorbs it. It can be described as a stream of photons regardless of the source. All the photons have various energies, and they bounce along being absorbed, reflected and speckled. When the source of light is turned off, the photons do not die but rather cease to be emitted. The individual photons or waves that have already been produced do not stop but instead the production stops. A photon of light will continue travelling through space until it comes into contact with an object that absorbs it. Photons always travel at the speed of light even in matter. However, their phase is altered when they meet come into contact with atomic scatters modifying their wavelength and momentum but not their speed. They are extremely sensitive to every alteration in their own or their surroundings energetic matter. Just like photon light streams, waves have interior streams and signal interchange. The interior streams of energetic matter travel in different directions and speeds and seem to go beyond the speed of light. However, a number of researchers have tried to rule out the fact that photons do not exceed the speed of light, but have failed to do so. As such, the fact that photons cannot go beyond the speed of light points out that some kind of energetic matter in space does not allow the photonic loops to go beyond their velocity. The velocity of light is limited to wave-particle phase configurations also known as photons. As such, a photon cannot change to a superior phase and velocity. Owing to the fact that a photon has a single phase, it will appear and disappear in the same life cycle.
Works Cited
Gribbin, John. In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1999. Print.
