Key research themes
1. How is the internal wave-particle structure of photons theoretically characterized and experimentally supported?
This research area focuses on formulating a coherent physical and mathematical representation of photons that encapsulates their dual wave-particle nature as experimentally observed. It addresses the photon’s localization, energy quantization, polarization, and electromagnetic field representations. Insights in this theme are critical for reconciling classical electromagnetic theory with quantum phenomena and for foundational understanding crucial in quantum optics and photonics.
2. What is the theoretical and experimental status of the photon structure function in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and its implications for defining photon parton distributions?
This theme explores the perturbative and non-perturbative aspects of the photon’s hadronic structure as described by photon structure functions, focusing on their Q^2 evolution, parton content, and the derivation and precision of QCD corrections. It addresses the photon’s dual role as both a pointlike particle and a complex hadronic object fluctuating into quark-antiquark pairs, impacting parton density functions (PDFs) and deep inelastic scattering phenomenology.
3. How do concepts beyond standard photon quantum theory, such as dark photons and photon vortices, extend our understanding of photon structure in new physics and spatial configuration contexts?
This theme investigates innovative extensions of photon theory beyond the standard quantum electrodynamics framework, including hypothesized dark photon gauge bosons mediating hidden sector interactions, and structurally complex photon states characterized by three-dimensional vortex-like angular momentum. These studies impact searches for new physics, dark matter interactions, and the emergent 3D spatial topology of quantum fields.