Would it be possible for a photon to be static?

Question

Why is it that all forms of EM radiation must be traveling at a constant speed? While I know that all observations of EM radiation support that the speed it travels at is constant, is it impossible for a photon to be created that had no velocity imparted to it at all? After all, if such a thing did happen, it would be very difficult to observe. Still, I admit that it seems very unlikely to me, but I cannot figure out exactly why. What is it about the creation of a photon that guarantees it will have a specific velocity while in a vacuum?

Answer 1

Assume that the speed is 0

now try to calculate λ (wavelength) = h(Planck's Constant)/mv

v is 0 so you're now dividing by 0 and that can't be accepted

Answer 2

Actually, photons do not have a specific velocity. In general, people tend to fix a value to the speed of photons, but speed c from e=mc^2 is not photon speed but rather light speed. let me elaborate:

photons travel around light speed. photons apear and disapear constantly. they disapear when they travel faster than light speed, and apear when they slow down below light speed. this jump, which happens at speed c, is what creates light hence light speed :)

To answer your question (btw this goes against common knowledge): YES, photons are everywhere and can be static. they are the only particles that can travel at light speed and beyond. all they need is enough energy to be accelerated to speed c and voila, light! only electrons can provide enough energy for this...they can also absorb the energy and slow down the photons so we cannot see them anymore.

aside: I'm gonna get some thumbs down for this one :( but think about it!!!

Answer 3

nope.  they need to travel to fulfil the wave equation that describes the travelling of waves

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_equati...

or specifically http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagn...

the constants in it are the permeability and permitivity of free space. so unless they change, then the speed of a photon cannot change and still remain a photon.   going at that speed is required to sustain itself, so if a photon went slower it wouldnt be a photon for very long

Answer 4

From what we have observed, photons always travel at the speed of light. If you look at the likely interpretation of what is happening, according to quantum mechanics,  when photons travel though materials, you find that the apparent slowing is from when the photon does not exist; that is, from when it is absorbed by an electron to when a photon is emitted by that electron. Which is to say that when a photon exists, it travels at the speed of light.

As to the ultimate answer of why this is, well, we have not gotten to that question yet. We are, in fact, still struggling with understanding that it does always travel at the same speed, regardless of its frequency, regardless of its energy, even regardless of our speed when we measure its speed!