Photons in a waveguide (some thought experiments)

A set of thought experiments with guided waves (as the simplest example of spatially localized fields) shows that photons occupying a waveguide mode possess all the characteristics of the nonzero inertial and gravitational rest mass. The corresponding quantity originates from the standing-wave component of the field and is merely an equivalent of the real energy from the ’raking up’ of zero-point vacuum fluctuations from all unbounded space. It is impossible to distinguish this quantity from the standard concept of mass. This conclusion is valid for photons of any real spatially bounded fields. Two different classes of resonances with boson- and fermion-like features arise in waveguide ring structures depending on their field topology. The heuristic prospects for these observations are assessed.

PACS: 03.65.Bz, 12.20.−m, 42.50.−p (all)
DOI: 10.1070/PU1997v040n03ABEH000215
URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/1997/3/e/
Web of Science

A1997WU37100006
Citation: Rivlin L A "Photons in a waveguide (some thought experiments)" Phys. Usp. 40 291–303 (1997)

BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks

Оригинал: Ривлин Л А «Фотоны в волноводе (несколько мысленных экспериментов)» УФН 167 309–322 (1997); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0167.199703g.0309

References (29) Cited by (14) Similar articles (20) ↓

L.B. Okun’ “The concept of mass (mass, energy, relativity)” Sov. Phys. Usp. 32 629–638 (1989)
L.B. Okun, K.G. Selivanov, V.L. Telegdi “Gravitation, photons, clocks” Phys. Usp. 42 1045–1050 (1999)
L.A. Rivlin “Formation energy of a waveguide as a measure of its cutoff frequency” Sov. Phys. Usp. 34 (3) 259–261 (1991)
V.I. Bodnarchuk, L.S. Davtyan, D.A. Korneev “Geometrical phase effects in neutron optics” Phys. Usp. 39 169–177 (1996)
V.I. Ritus “Duality of two-dimensional field theory and four-dimensional electrodynamics leading to finite value of the bare charge” Phys. Usp. 56 565–589 (2013)
A.A. Logunov “The theory of the classical gravitational field” Phys. Usp. 38 179–193 (1995)
A.V. Belinskii “Bell’s theorem for trichotomic observables” Phys. Usp. 40 305–316 (1997)
N.V. Evdokimov, D.N. Klyshko et al “Bell’s inequalities and EPR-Bohm correlations: working classical radiofrequency model” Phys. Usp. 39 83–98 (1996)
V.I. Ritus “Lagrange equations of motion of particles and photons in the Schwarzschild field” Phys. Usp. 58 1118–1123 (2015)
V.V. Mityugov “Thermodynamics of simple quantum systems” Phys. Usp. 43 631–637 (2000)
A.V. Belinskii “Bell’s theorem without the hypothesis of locality” Phys. Usp. 37 219–222 (1994)
I.N. Toptygin “Quantum description of a field in macroscopic electrodynamics and photon properties in transparent media” Phys. Usp. 60 935–947 (2017)
P.A. Krachkov, A.I. Mil’shtein “An operator derivation of the quasiclassical Green's function” Phys. Usp. 61 896–899 (2018)
V.I. Ritus “Finite value of the bare charge and the relation of the fine structure constant ratio for physical and bare charges to zero-point oscillations of the electromagnetic field in a vacuum” Phys. Usp. 65 468–486 (2022)
V.P. Neznamov “Mathematical paradoxes of Dirac equation representations” Phys. Usp. 68 1283–1288 (2025)
V.I. Vysotskii, V.I. Vorontsov et al “The Sagnac experiment with X-radiation” Phys. Usp. 37 289–302 (1994)
I.E. Mazets “Kinetic equation including wave function collapses” Phys. Usp. 41 505–507 (1998)
G. Oppen “Objects and environment” Phys. Usp. 39 617–622 (1996)
V.G. Veselago “Energy, linear momentum, and mass transfer by an electromagnetic wave in a negative-refraction medium” Phys. Usp. 52 649–654 (2009)
V.B. Morozov “On the question of the electromagnetic momentum of a charged body” Phys. Usp. 54 371–374 (2011)

The list is formed automatically.