For quantum physics, a photon is an elementary particle.
A photon is an elementary particle that, according to the principles of quantum physics , makes up light . Like all elementary particles, photons have no known internal structure and are not made up of other smaller particles.
Photons are the particles that carry visible light, ultraviolet light, infrared light, X-rays , gamma rays and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation . They travel in a vacuum at a constant speed and have zero invariant mass (they are massless ). Photons, on the other hand, have no electrical charge.
Photons are currently considered to be responsible for the generation of all magnetic and electric fields . Numerous natural processes cause the emission of photons: if an electrically charged particle is accelerated, for example, these elementary particles are emitted.
The study of the photon
The science dedicated to the study of the production and control of photons is known as photonics . One of the most important applications of photons is lasers, which have multiple uses. Photons are also applied in microscopes and optical communications.
If we read the documents about the composition of light that were written throughout history, we will see that until the 18th century almost all theories spoke of the presence of particles. The reason it took so long to reach formal acceptance of these ideas was because scientists at the time did not know how to explain certain phenomena (such as birefrigence, refraction, or diffraction of light) based on the model . of the particles.
Visible light is made up of photons.
The vision of scientists throughout history
Throughout the 17th century, the scientists René Descartes , Robert Hooke and Christian Huygens tried to solve this impossibility of associating particles with the phenomena of light with the proposal of wave theories , according to which light propagates by means of waves. mechanics that emit a light source. Despite their efforts, theories pointing to particles (which we know today as photons) remained in force, largely thanks to the work of Isaac Newton .
However, at the beginning of the 19th century, wave models gained great importance when August Fresnel and Thomas Young demonstrated that with these theories it was perfectly possible to explain diffraction and interference. Later, Heinrich Hertz confirmed James Clerk Maxwell 's ideas that light was an electromagnetic wave and this jeopardized the permanence of the photon model.
But the wave theory was not sufficient to explain light in its entirety: it claimed that it depended exclusively on its intensity, while several experiments demonstrated that, on the contrary, it depended only on its frequency . Albert Einstein played a fundamental role in the fusion of wave theories and that of photons since he pointed out that the anomalies observed in many tests could be explained with the presence of quantum dots in the light wave with independence to move although the diffusion of the wave was continuous in space.
Foton, name of a company and colloquial language term
Foton Motor , on the other hand, is the name by which a Chinese manufacturer of agricultural machinery, trucks, vans and other vehicles is known. The company was founded in 1996 and currently has nearly thirty thousand employees. The Foton Tunland pickup is one of its most famous models worldwide.
In the colloquial language of Argentina , finally, a photograph of great quality or importance is known as a photon: "The magazine published a photon of the president looking askance at the Minister of Education," "The image would be a photon if it were not for that bird that just crossed its path .