The Size of a Photon

Abstract

This paper begins by exploring a useful and neglected detail of a photon—its physical size perpendicular to the direction of propagation in the same way as an atom or neutron has a physical size. Such a photon size would be quite separate from the cross-section of a photonic interaction, which depends on the material interacting. Such a perpendicular dimension of a photon will be invariant under Lorentz transform parallel to the light propagation direction and will thus be the same for all frequencies of light. This study also leads to new details about how a photon interacts, offering an explanation for the familiar physics where light slightly above and below the mean frequency of an excited state can still excite the same state without violation of conservation of energy—a mystery explored thoroughly in a previous paper without finding the solution offered here. As usual, a better elucidation of the details of light interaction also leads to new insights—especially about the vacuum field. The Appendix summarizes some previous research relevant to this discussion