Sunday, October 20, 2019

electromagnetism - Which solution to the electromagnetic wave equation is the most accurate model of monochromatic light?


When a photon is modeled as a monochromatic electromagnetic wave its electric and magnetic components are usually taken to be sine waves (for example here http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/waves/emwv.html). I believe the practical reason for this is that any solution of the electromagnetic wave equation can be expressed as a sum of sine waves. But physically, when a photon can be interpreted as a wave, how is it best modeled? Do we have empirical evidence to think that it is best modeled by a single sine wave for the E and B fields, or if not which solution of the electromagnetic wave equation would best model it? Are there experiments that could show that light waves resemble more say square waves than sine waves?


Update


To rephrase the core of my question more properly: If a photon / electromagnetic wave travels through a point in space, in vacuum, and we measure the electric and magnetic fields at this point with a very high temporal resolution, would we measure the electric and magnetic fields to fluctuate exactly as sine waves, or as something else? Has such an experiment ever been made?





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