OPTICAL NEAR-FIELD INTERACTION ON THE BASIS OF PHOTON WAVE MECHANICS

Abstract

Near-field optical aspects of classical electrodynamics are brought into focus by dividing the electromagnetic field into its transverse and longitudinal vector-field parts. A transverse electromagnetic propagator formalism thereafter is used to study the field-matter interaction in the transverse current density domain, the birth domain of the photon. Subsequently, a brief summary of photon wave mechanics, the first-quantized theory of the photon, is given, paying particular attention to the dynamics in the near-field zone of matter (atom, molecule, mesoscopic particle). In the wake of a discussion of the relativistic transformation properties of the covariant photon field matrix the photon energy wave function is introduced. In a central section, photon wave mechanics and near-field optics are brought in contact, and the photon embryo state, the polychromatic photon concept, and the quantum mechanical theory for the transverse one-photon current density discussed.