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NEW THEORY REVEALS THE SHAPE OF A SINGLE PHOTON

A new theory, that explains how light and matter interact at the quantum level
has enabled researchers to define the precise shape of a single photon. 

18 November 2024
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Credit: Benjamin Yuen

Research at the University of Birmingham, published in Physical Review Letters,
explores the nature of photons (individual particles of light) in unprecedented
detail to show how they are emitted by atoms or molecules and shaped by their
environment.  

The nature of this interaction leads to infinite possibilities for light to
exist and propagate, or travel, through its surrounding environment. This
limitless possibility, however, makes the interactions exceptionally hard to
model, and is a challenge that quantum physicists have been working to address
for several decades.  

By grouping these possibilities into distinct sets, the Birmingham team were
able to produce a model that describes not only the interactions between the
photon and the emitter, but also how the energy from that interaction travels
into the distant ‘far field’.  

At the same time, they were able to use their calculations to produce a
visualisation of the photon itself. 

> Our calculations enabled us to convert a seemingly insolvable problem into
> something that can be computed. And, almost as a bi-product of the model, we
> were able to produce this image of a photon, something that hasn’t been seen
> before in physics.
> 
> Dr Benjamin Yuen, School of Physics & Astronomy

First author Dr Benjamin Yuen, in the University’s School of Physics and
Astronomy, explained: “Our calculations enabled us to convert a seemingly
insolvable problem into something that can be computed. And, almost as a
bi-product of the model, we were able to produce this image of a photon,
something that hasn’t been seen before in physics.”  

The work is important because it opens up new avenues of research for quantum
physicists and material science. By being able to precisely define how a photon
interacts with matter and with other elements of its environment, scientists can
design new nanophotonic technologies that could change the way we communicate
securely, detect pathogens, or control chemical reactions at a molecular level
for example.  

Co-author, Professor Angela Demetriadou, also at the University of Birmingham,
said: “The geometry and optical properties of the environment has profound
consequences for how photons are emitted, including defining the photons shape,
colour, and even how likely it is to exist.”  

Dr Benjamin Yuen, added: “This work helps us to increase our understanding of
the energy exchange between light and matter, and secondly to better understand
how light radiates into its nearby and distant surroundings. Lots of this
information had previously been thought of as just ‘noise’ - but there’s so much
information within it that we can now make sense of, and make use of. By
understanding this, we set the foundations to be able to engineer light-matter
interactions for future applications, such as better sensors, improved
photovoltaic energy cells, or quantum computing.”   

NOTES FOR EDITORS

 * For media enquiries please contact Beck Lockwood, Press Office, University of
   Birmingham, tel: +44 (0)781 3343348.
 * The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100
   institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham,
   including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students
   from over 150 countries.
 * Yuen and Demetriadou (2024). 'Exact Quantum Electrodynamics of Radiative
   Photonic Environments,' Phys. Rev. Letters. 


FEATURED STAFF


 * PROFESSOR ANGELA DEMETRIADOU
   
   Professor of Theoretical Nanophotonics
   
   Dr Angela Demetriadou's work focuses in the general fields of nanophotonics,
   nanoplasmonics and metamaterials and she has published numerous research
   papers in top scientific journals.
   
   Phone: +44 (0) 121 414 6472
   Email: a.demetriadou@bham.ac.uk


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