New theory reveals the shape of a single photon

Amazing stuff! 

"Research ... explores the nature of photons (individual particles of light) in unprecedented detail to show how they are emitted by atoms or molecules and shaped by their environment.  ..."

"By being able to precisely define how a photon interacts with matter and with other elements of its environment, scientists can design new nanophotonic technologies that could change the way we communicate securely, detect pathogens, or control chemical reactions at a molecular level for example.  ...

“The geometry and optical properties of the environment has profound consequences for how photons are emitted, including defining the photons shape, colour, and even how likely it is to exist.”   ..."

From the abstract:

"We present a comprehensive second quantization scheme for radiative photonic devices. We canonically quantize the continuum of photonic eigenmodes by transforming them into a discrete set of pseudomodes that provide a complete and exact description of quantum emitters interacting with electromagnetic environments. This method avoids all reservoir approximations and offers new insights into quantum correlations, accurately capturing all non-Markovian dynamics. This method overcomes challenges in quantizing non-Hermitian systems and is applicable to diverse nanophotonic geometries."

The shape of light: “something that hasn’t been seen before in physics”

New theory reveals the shape of a single photon - University of Birmingham (original news release) "A new theory, that explains how light and matter interact at the quantum level has enabled researchers to define the precise shape of a single photon. "

Exact Quantum Electrodynamics of Radiative Photonic Environments (open access)

Fig. 3.

Intensity distribution for (a) the (5, 0, 4) and (b) the (8, 0, 3) pseudomodes ...