Quantum theory of light

The answers to the above questions, not all of which need he presented here, were formulated between 1925 and 1926, in the revolution of modern quantum theory, which shook the foundations of physics and philosophy. Remarkably, the central theme of quantum theory was the nature of light, and what came to be called the wave-particle duality. But other broader implications of the new theory existed, and the first inkling of this was given in 1924 by Louis de Broglie (Fig. 3.26) in his doctoral dissertation. He postulated that particles may also possess wavelike properties and that these wavelike properties would manifest themselves only in phenomena occurring on an atomic scale, as dictated by Planck s constant. He also postulated that the wavelength of these matter waves, for a given particle such as an electron or proton, would be inversely proportional to the particle s momentum p, which is a product of its mass m and speed 

University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1987) M.I. Sobel, Light, pp. 85, 86, 375 ill. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1987) D.A. McQuarrie, Quantum Chemistry, pp. 30 35, University Science Books, Mill Valley, CA (1983). 

Experimental confirmation of de Broglie s hypothesis was soon obtained in 1927 hy the observation that electron beams can be diffracted in much the same way 

Building on de Broghe s hypothesis, theorists such as Erwin Schrodinger, Werner Heisenberg, Max Bom, and others developed a new and fundamental theory. 

University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1987). 

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Loudon R 1983 The Quantum Theory of Light (Oxford Oxford University Press)... 

The first known laser was made by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, in 1960, but the seeds of this breakthrough were planted years before. In 1917 Albert Einstein, through his work on the quantum theory of light, theorized that stimulated emission of light radiation could occur. The idea was forgotten, though, until the middle of the century. 

Loudon, R. The quantum theory of light, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1986... 

H.M. Nussenzveig, Introduction to Quantum Optics (Gordon and Breach, New York 1973) R. Loudon, The Quantum Theory of Light (2nd Ed., Clarendon, Oxford 1983). 

Controversies still persist in the interpretation of the quantum theory of light and indeed more generally in quantum mechanics itself. This happens notwithstanding the widely held view that all the difficult problems concerning the correct interpretation of quantum mechanics were resolved a long time ago in the famous encounters between Einstein and Bohr. Recent books have been devoted to foundational issues [26] in quantum mechanics, and some seriously question Bohrian orthodoxy [27,28]. There is at least one experiment described in the literature [29] that purports to do what Bohr prohibits demonstrate the simultaneous existence of wave and particle-like properties of light. 

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