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A Relativistic Schrödinger-like Equation for a Photon and Its Second Quantization

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Abstract

Maxwell's equations are formulated as a relativistic “Schrödinger-like equation” for a single photon of a given helicity. The probability density of the photon satisfies an equation of continuity. The energy eigenvalue problem gives both positive and negative energies. The Feynman concept of antiparticles is applied here to show that the negative-energy states going backward in time (t → −t) give antiphoton states, which are photon states with the opposite helicity. For a given mode, properties of a photon, such as energy, linear momentum, total angular momentum, orbital angular momentum, and spin are equivalent in both classical electromagnetic field theory and quantum theory. The single-photon Schrödinger equation is field (or “second”) quantized in a gauge-invariant way to obtain the quantum field theory of many photons. This approach treats the quantization of electromagnetic radiation in a way that parallels the quantization of material particles and, thus, provides a unified treatment.

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Kobe, D.H. A Relativistic Schrödinger-like Equation for a Photon and Its Second Quantization. Foundations of Physics 29, 1203–1231 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018855630724

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