The Present Status of the Quantum Theory of Light, 1997 Proceedings of a Symposium in Honour of Jean-Pierre Vigier Fundamental Theories of Physics Series, Vol. 80

THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE QUANTUM THEORY OF LIGHT In August of 1995, a group of over 70 physicists met at York University for a three-day symposium in honour of Professor Jean-Pierre Vigier. The attendance included theoretical and experimental physicists, mathematicians, astronomers and colleagues concerned with issues in the philosophy of science. The symposium was entitled "The Present Status of the Quantum Theory of Light" in accordance with Professor Vigier's wishes but in fact encompassed many of the areas to which Professor Vigier has contributed over his long and distinguished career. These include stochastic interpretations of quantum mechanics, particle physics, and electromagnetic theory. The papers presented at the symposium have been arranged in this proceedings in the following approximate order: ideas about the nature of light and photons, electrodynamiCS, the formulation and interpretation of quantum mechanics, and aspects of relativity theory. Some of the papers presented deal with alternate interpretations of quantum phenomena in the tradition of Vigier, Bohm et al. These interpretations reject the account given in purely probabilistic terms and which deems individual quantum events to be acausal and not amenable to any analysis in space-time terms. As is well known, Einstein and others also rejected the purely statistical account of quantum mechanics. As stressed by Professor Vigier at the symposium, the current experimental situation now allows for the first time for individual quantum events to be studied, e. g.

A Quantum of Light Shed on a Classical Problem.- A Classical Photon Model.- Stationary Vacuum-Polarization “P Fields”: The Missing Element in Electromagnetism and Quantum Mechanics.- Electrons and Photons as Soliton-Waves.- Topological Solitons in Non-Linear Electrodynamics.- A Particle or Photon in a Field.- The Myth of the Photon.- Could the Photon Be Superfluous?.- Fluctuation-Dissipation Quantum Electrodynamics.- Statistical Theory of Photon in the Nonlinear Media and in Vacuum.- Einstein-de Broglie-Proca Theory of Light and Simultaneous Existence of Transverse and Longitudinal Photons.- Origin, Observation and Consequences of the B(3) Field.- Opto-Magnetic Effects in Non Absorbing Media: Problems of Measurement and Interpretation.- Generalized Equations of Electrodynamics of Continuous Media.- Maxwellian Analysis of Reflection and Refraction.- Solutions of Maxwell Equations for a Hollow Curved Wave Conductor.- Maxwell’s Equations Directly from the Dynamics of Point Particles.- Obtaining the Schrödinger and Dirac Equations from the Einstein/KAC Model of Brownian Motion by Projection.- Derivation of the Schrödinger Equation.- An Appraisal of Stochastic Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics.- Compatible Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Beats..- Stochastic Non-Markov Model of Quantum Mechanical Behaviour.- Essentially Pure Particle Formulation of Quantum Mechanics.- A Fundamental Force as the Deterministic Explanation of Quantum Mechanics.- A Geometric Approach to the Quantum Mechanics of de Broglie and Vigier.- Stable Orbits as Limit Cycles.- The Correspondence Principle: Periodic Orbits from Quantum Mechanics.- Neutron Interferometric Experiments on Quantum Mechanics.- Enigmatic Neutrons.- Experiments to Test the Reality of de Broglie Waves.- PreselectedQuantum Optical Correlations.- Apparent Contradiction in EPR Correlations.- The Wave-Particle Duality.- Quantum Mechanical Tunneling in a Causal Interpretation.- Quantum Uncertainty, Wave-Particle Duality and Fundamental Symmetries.- On the Contradiction between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity: a Superluminal Quantum Morse Telegraph.- Incompatibility between Einstein’s Relativity and Lorentz’s Equations.- On Self-Interaction and (Non-)Perturbative Quantum GRT.- Classical Physics Foundations for Quantum Physics.- Inertial Transformations: a Review.- The Lorentz Invariance Revisited.- A New Type of Massive Spin-One Boson: and its Relation with Maxwell Equations.- Implications of Extended Models of the Electron for Particle Theory and Cosmology.- The Takabayasi Moving Frame, from the A Potential to the Z Boson.- The Nature of the Cosmological Redshift.- A Quantum Digital Theory of Light.- Toward a Comprehensible Physical Theory: Gravity and Quantum Mechanics.- Hidden Background Field and Quantum Non-Locality.- Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Correlations within Bell Region>.- Electromagnetic Gauge as Integration Condition and Selection of the Source Adhering Gauge>.- Author Index.