I differ in my understanding of QUANTA. It applies to electromagnetic radiation. Einstein looked at quanta as corpuscles in space, and so does current science. But I look at quanta as the consistency (a degree of density, firmness, viscosity, etc.) of radiation. The idea of corpuscles comes from reactions that we see in experiments where radiation is involved.
For example, in a double-slit experiment with electrons we see flashes of light when the electrons hit the screen. We, therefore, think that the electrons are corpuscles. But then we see a light and dark pattern emerging on the screen, which means that the electron flow is actually a wave form that passed through both the slits. This is not possible when we think of electrons as corpuscles.
The best explanation is that electron flow is a flow of thick energy through the double-slit that reacts as points where its wave front impacts the screen. The whole wave seems to get concentrated at the point of impact.
This provides a different picture of the “particles” of Quantum Mechanics.
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Earlier I wrote in Final Comments to Einstein 1938: The Quanta of Light:
In the photoelectric effect, an increase in the intensity of light only increased the number of electrons emitted and not their energy (velocity). This implies an increase in the same type of interactions between light and electrons. Hence, light must also be composed of particles like electrons.
When the wavelength of light was increased, it lowered the energy of the electrons emitted, and not their number. This implies that the energy was supplied by the composition of light particles and not by their kinetic energy. In other words, the inertia (innate force) of light particles converted into the velocity of the electrons. It is like a conversion from “mass” into “energy”.
A constant velocity is an outcome of balanced forces. Inertia is the innate force of the substance that balances the acceleration of the quantum particle. As this balance shifts, so does the velocity. Thus, underlying the exchange of energy there is a balance of forces in terms of momentum.
Einstein refers to these light and electricity particles as “energy quanta”, but, much earlier, Faraday referred to them as lines of force. These lines of force may be viewed as string-like “force quanta”. This view explains the wave properties of light and generates no conflict with its quantum properties.”
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