Photons

According to quantum mechanics, everything moves like a wave but exchanges energy and momentum like a particle. The three most important kinds of waves in solids are light waves, sound wave, and electron waves. This section describes light waves. When light exchanges energy or momentum like a particle, those particles are called photons. A discussion of photons is found in the online notes on photons.

Outline

Photons in vacuum

Review of Maxwell's unification of electromagnetism with optics W
Quantization of the normal mode solutions to the wave equation W
Thermodynamic properties of light

Planck's radiation law W
Wien's displacement law W
Stefan-Boltzmann law W
Internal energy density
Specific heat
Radiation pressure
Entropy
Table summarizing the results of the quantization of the wave equation

Photonic crystals

Light in one-dimensional layered material
Empty lattice approximation for photons

Table of the empty lattice approximation

Plane wave method
Table of photonic crystals

Reading
Notes on the quantization of electromagnetic fields
Kittel Appendix C: Quantization of Elastic Waves
Light in a layered material

Student presentations

Quantisierung des elektromagnetischen Feldes - Gregor Pobegen, 2008
1-D Phtonische Kristalle - Antonius Dorda, 2009
Thermodynamic properties of bosons - Elias Assman, 2009

Resources
Online book on photonic crystals: Photonic Crystals: Molding the Flow of Light, John D. Joannopoulos, Steven G. Johnson, Joshua N. Winn, and Robert D. Meade
Quantisierung des klassischen elektromagnetischen Feldes, E. Schachinger
Planck, Max (1901). "On the Law of Distribution of Energy in the Normal Spectrum", Annalen der Physik 4: 553.
Landau and Lifshitz, Statistical Physics, Part 1, Pergamon Press, 1980
The Brillouin zone applet