thoughts on photons

If i were to set up a transmitter that was capable of transmitting a single
electromagnetic wave. And some distance from this transmitter I was to
setup a series of photon detectors in a circle about the transmitter. If I
move the circle of detectors far enough away it could come to an infinite
number of detectors. When I then transmit my single electromagnetic wave
how many photons will be dectected.

postman

The Postman wrote:
If i were to set up a transmitter that was capable of transmitting a
single
electromagnetic wave.

(sic)

And some distance from this transmitter I was to
setup a series of photon detectors in a circle about the transmitter.


(sic)

If I
move the circle of detectors far enough away it could come to an
infinite
number of detectors.

That is not possible. To accommodate an infinite number of detectors
you would need a circle of infinite radius. The maximum avalable
distance is 1.3x10^10 light-years (~1.3x10^27 m) - the radius of the
universe. If your detectors are 1 mm diameter (1x10^-3 m) you can only
accommodate 1.3x10^30 detectors in a circle the size of the universe.
An 'infinite number' of detectors would be a MUCH larger number.

When I then transmit my single electromagnetic wave
how many photons will be dectected.

One. It would take about 13 billion years to detect it, and another 13
billion years to *find out about it*, though.

Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA

If i were to set up a transmitter that was capable of transmitting a
single
electromagnetic wave. And some distance from this transmitter I was to
setup a series of photon detectors in a circle about the transmitter. If I
move the circle of detectors far enough away it could come to an infinite
number of detectors. When I then transmit my single electromagnetic wave
how many photons will be dectected.


How many photons will be detected? Probably you would detect the same number
of photons that were hiding in the original uncollapsed electromagnetic
wave. BTW, what do you mean by "single electromagnetic wave"?

oðin wrote:

If i were to set up a transmitter that was capable of transmitting a
single
electromagnetic wave. And some distance from this transmitter I was to
setup a series of photon detectors in a circle about the transmitter. If
I move the circle of detectors far enough away it could come to an
infinite number of detectors. When I then transmit my single
electromagnetic wave how many photons will be dectected.


How many photons will be detected? Probably you would detect the same
number of photons that were hiding in the original uncollapsed
electromagnetic wave. BTW, what do you mean by "single electromagnetic
wave"?
If I take a single strand of wire of conducting material and apply a voltage
across it for a short period of time an electormagnetic wave will radiate
from it. The frequency and wavelength of the wave will depend on the period
the voltage was applied.
another question ?
If my first circle of detectors are enough(no gaps between detectors) to
capture all of the photons emitted and count them and my second circle of
detectors also have no gaps but are further away and consequently greater
in number. If they also count all the photons from a single wave will the
number be greater and if so where do the extra photons come from.

postman

How many photons will be detected? Probably you would detect the same
number of photons that were hiding in the original uncollapsed
electromagnetic wave. BTW, what do you mean by "single electromagnetic
wave"?
If I take a single strand of wire of conducting material and apply a
voltage
across it for a short period of time an electormagnetic wave will radiate
from it. The frequency and wavelength of the wave will depend on the
period
the voltage was applied.

OK, then that would be a wave train.

If my first circle of detectors are enough(no gaps between detectors) to
capture all of the photons emitted and count them and my second circle of
detectors also have no gaps but are further away and consequently greater
in number. If they also count all the photons from a single wave will the
number be greater and if so where do the extra photons come from.

The outer will not detect any photons if the inner circle detected all the
photons.

If you only have the inner circle or only the outer circle, then I would
think the number of photons detected would be the same.

But I am wondering what would be the motivation for thinking about it?

The Postman wrote:

If my first circle of detectors are enough(no gaps between detectors)
to
capture all of the photons emitted and count them

....then there would not be any photons left to reach the second
detector. You cannot 'detect' a photon without absorbing it.
Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA

The Postman wrote:

If my first circle of detectors are enough(no gaps between detectors)
to
capture all of the photons emitted and count them

....then there would not be any photons left to reach the second
detector. You cannot 'detect' a photon without absorbing it.
Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA

oðin wrote:

How many photons will be detected? Probably you would detect the same
number of photons that were hiding in the original uncollapsed
electromagnetic wave. BTW, what do you mean by "single electromagnetic
wave"?
If I take a single strand of wire of conducting material and apply a
voltage
across it for a short period of time an electormagnetic wave will
radiate from it. The frequency and wavelength of the wave will depend on
the period
the voltage was applied.

OK, then that would be a wave train.

If my first circle of detectors are enough(no gaps between detectors) to
capture all of the photons emitted and count them and my second circle of
detectors also have no gaps but are further away and consequently greater
in number. If they also count all the photons from a single wave will the
number be greater and if so where do the extra photons come from.

The outer will not detect any photons if the inner circle detected all the
photons.

If you only have the inner circle or only the outer circle, then I would
think the number of photons detected would be the same.

But I am wondering what would be the motivation for thinking about it?

What I am thinking about is the relationship between the number of photons
in a wave and its circumference as it expands to infinity. If there is a
fixed number of photons created when the wave is set in motion then
eventually there will be large gaps between photons so does this mean the
wave circumference is not continuous. If that is not the case and the
number of photons is not fixed where does the energy for the extra photons
come from

postman

What I am thinking about is the relationship between the number of photons
in a wave and its circumference as it expands to infinity. If there is a
fixed number of photons created when the wave is set in motion then
eventually there will be large gaps between photons so does this mean the
wave circumference is not continuous. If that is not the case and the
number of photons is not fixed where does the energy for the extra photons
come from

While it is an EM wave, there are no photon particles. The photons start to
exist when the EM wave collapses, and that happens when the photons are
detected. They will only be detected in some of the detectors, if the the
number of detectors is greater than the number of protons that can represent
the energy quanta of the original EM wave. The number of photons detected is
the same regardless of how far out or how many there are.

oðin wrote:

What I am thinking about is the relationship between the number of
photons in a wave and its circumference as it expands to infinity. If
there is a fixed number of photons created when the wave is set in motion
then eventually there will be large gaps between photons so does this
mean the wave circumference is not continuous. If that is not the case
and the number of photons is not fixed where does the energy for the
extra photons come from

While it is an EM wave, there are no photon particles. The photons start
to exist when the EM wave collapses, and that happens when the photons are
detected. They will only be detected in some of the detectors, if the the
number of detectors is greater than the number of protons that can
represent the energy quanta of the original EM wave. The number of photons
detected is the same regardless of how far out or how many there are.

I think I will need a second opinion on this. The two parts to your answer
seem to be at odds with each other. The first part implies an ether which
also implies that the wave is continuous and if Photons only exist when
they are detected would seem to imply that the discrete properties of
photons are really the properties of the detector which would put no limit
on the number detected but then that would demand redshifting of the wave.