Re: Is photon a wave packet ?

["John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>]

Michael Edmiston wrote:
> By asking for some type of description of what is happening in the space
> that "e&m radiation is going through" I am trying to find some sort of
> description for myself and for students.

My stock answer is to say something like this:

  1) A changing electric field creates a magnetic field.
  2) A changing magnetic field creates an electric field.
  3) Goto step 1.

  If things change fast enough, each created field is strong
  enough to create the next, and the chain propagates without loss.
  In this case "fast enough" means 300 megameters per second.

If that doesn't do it, please clarify the question.

> Several reponses have seemed to center on the "answer" that it is
> inappropriate to ask this type of question.

I don't recall such answers to this question, but rather
to different questions.

Certainly there are lots of inappropriate questions in the world,
but this isn't one of them, so let's defer the philosophical
discussion.