Researchers have developed a new quantum theory that describes for the first time the exact shape of a photon and shows how it interacts with atoms and the environment. This breakthrough enables photon imaging and could revolutionize nanophotonic technologies, improving safe communication, pathogen detection and molecular control in chemical reactions.

Groundbreaking quantum theory has allowed researchers to determine the exact shape of a single photon for the first time.

Scientists from the University of Birmingham whose work is presented Physical Examination Lettersexplored the complex behavior of photons – individual particles of light. Their research shows how photons are emitted by atoms or molecules and how their shape is affected by the environment.

Quantum challenges and breakthroughs

This complex interaction creates endless possibilities for light to exist and move around. But this enormous potential makes modeling these interactions an incredibly difficult task that quantum physicists have been grappling with for decades. By grouping these possibilities into separate clusters, the Birmingham team was able to create a model that explains not only the interaction between photon and emitter, but also how the energy from this interaction is transferred to distant “far space.”

Visualization of photons

They were also able to use their calculations to create a visualization of the photon itself.

Lead author Dr. from the University’s Faculty of Physics. Benjamin Yuen explained: “Our calculations allowed us to turn a seemingly intractable problem into something computable. And almost as a by-product of the model, we managed to create this photon image, something that had not happened before in physics.”

Implications for quantum physics and technology

This work is important because it opens new research avenues for quantum physics and materials science. Scientists who can determine exactly how a photon interacts with matter and other elements in its environment can develop new nanophotonic technologies that could, for example, revolutionize the way we communicate securely, detect pathogens, or control chemical reactions at the molecular level.

Co-author Professor Angela Demetriadou, from the University of Birmingham, said: “The geometry and optical properties of the environment have profound consequences for how photons propagate, including determining the shape, color and even the probability of the photons existing.”

Dr Benjamin Yuen added: “This work helps us improve our understanding of the energy exchange between light and matter, and secondly, to better understand how light propagates into the near and distant environment. Much of this information was thought to be just ‘noise’, but it contains information that we can now understand and use.” “There is a lot of information out there. By understanding this, we are laying the foundations for improving light-matter interactions for future applications such as better sensors, advanced photovoltaics or quantum computing.”