“PHOTON” OR “QUANTIZED INTERACTION” ?
March 30th, 2009 | No Comments »I preface this discussion by noting again my observation that the nanostructure of the retina of the eye (specifically at the plane of receptor outer segments) functions to detect the wave nature of light converting the absorbed energy at each of the millions of light detection sites into quantized electron particles that are subsequently processed to form the visual image.
Each individual light detection site of the nanostructure consists of two regions: a.) a sub-micron dimensioned light wave-accepting space that is immediately adjacent to b.) a smaller quantum confined electron space or spaces. The combination forms a single generic light detection site with the larger dimension defining wavelength.. It should be clear therefore that the initial light detection event at these sites occurs in the near field or in about one period of the light waves oscillating field, i.e., approximately 10-15 second (or a femtosecond).
The future of vision research will unfold as we increase our technological capability for measurement in, and understanding of, the femtosecond regime. Progress will come with our understanding of heretofore unseen quantum effects in the near field of the light wave. I have mentioned in recent comments one such result in the finding by Engel et al of quantum coherence effects in the near field of the biological photosynthetic apparatus.
In physics terms this is an extraordinary statement implying that a solution to the historic conundrum of the wave/particle duality is seen in the process of vision showing that the idea that a “photon interacts”, should be replaced by the statement that a “quantized interaction” has occurred.
In the vision process, and following this insight, I have shown that nature employs a simple geometric principle to delineate and detect only three wavelengths out of the vast sea of electromagnetic wave energy. The wavelength or frequency of light is therefore geometrically selected. This defines a precise mapping of where these three (”primary”) wavelengths interact on the retinal surface which in turn leads to a new understanding that the vision process functions in the Fourier domain…and on and on to further insights… as I have written about.
Richard Feynman wrote that that the most fundamental interaction in nature occurs “between the photon and the electron”. More generally, F. meant the interaction occurring between light and electrons that constitute the absorbing mass (the reader will surmise that I believe F. was mistaken in his belief that quantized photons exist as I will develop in forthcoming text).
It would seem then, in summary, that we humans, looking out at what we perceive to be reality, are traversing the vast sea of electromagnetic wave radiation and abstracting in the vision process three specific geometrically defined (visible) wavelengths to form our image of , at least visual , reality!
I will shortly add discussion of the voluminous evidence for believing that the concept for the existence of photons represents an historic misunderstanding In the meantime one might read Nobelist Willis Lamb’s paper “Anti-photon” (Appl. Phys. B 60, 77-84, (1995).
From the Abstract of that paper:
“It should be apparent from the title of this paper that the author does not like the use of the word “photon”, which dates from 1926. In his view, there is no such thing as a photon. Only a comedy of errors and historical accidents led to its popularity among physicists and optical scientists…..”
And another qote From Dr. Stanley Alterman’s blog Stanley’s World ( “Optical Waves Wash Photons Aside”).
“Despite his success, Einstein and others at the time, viewed the quanta as “perplexing, pesky, mysterious, and sometimes a maddening quirk in the cosmos.” In particular, was the quanta of light a property of the light in a vacuum or the property of the process of light interacting with other materials? (emphasis mine/gch)
I believe that I am in reasonable company in these thoughts …and there is much more to come….
GCH
3.30.09
