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Originally Posted by Richard J. Hanak
Tim Thompson implied that a photon while traveling does have a wavelength to be stretched. And he wrote:
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The energy of a photon depends on the reference frame of the observer who measures it, and not on the photon itself.
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Thank you all for the thought provoking comments that led me to clarify my ideas. Let me first respond to Tim Thompson's last quoted statement.
Assume for a moment that two observers in different reference frames could measure the energy of the same photon. Which of the two energies would the photon have?
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Both energies. Since the energy of a photon depends on the frame of the observer, each observer would see a different energy.
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Originally Posted by Richard J. Hanak
Wouldn't it be more correct to state that the energy of a photon is independent of the observer, but that the energy measured by an observer depends on the reference frame of the observer?
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Since we can't know a photon's energy until it is measured (and that energy is dependent on the observers frame), how do you propose to determine what that independent energy is?
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Originally Posted by Richard J. Hanak
Quantum theory defines the photon as a particle with zero rest mass and spin 1. I would imagine that the spin has two components of 1/2 associated with each of the two vectors. I take the sinusoidal nature of the time functions of the vector amplitudes as evidence of those spins.
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Then you imagine wrong. Spin is associated with polarization and spin 1/2 and spin 1 particles have
four components.
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Originally Posted by Richard J. Hanak
Here is a bonus idea to think about. Where is the photon's energy when both its electric and magnetic vectors simultaneously have zero amplitude? (Maxwell's equations say they are in phase with each other.) Is that energy then stored as "the energy of a vacuum" or might it imply that electromagnetic radiation is a propagating disturbance of a gravitational field?
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Check out Special relativity and momentum.
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Originally Posted by Richard J. Hanak
A gravitational field can both store and supply energy. Gravitational fields are everywhere in space. There is a gravitational line of force between every object that is a source of radiation and every object that will react with that radiation. Is the gravitational field the required 'ether' at the heart of 18th and 19th century developments in optical knowledge? I think it is the gravitational field that does the waving.
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Current understanding is that gravity is simply the curvature of spacetime. No waving is required. Unless you are talking about Gravitational waves, but I don't think you are.
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Originally Posted by Richard J. Hanak
(P.S. I published these last ideas in 2001) Thanks again for your interest and your comments.
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Published? Where was this published?