photon

American  

[foh-ton] / ˈfoʊ tɒn /

noun

1. a quantum of electromagnetic radiation, usually considered as an elementary particle that is its own antiparticle and that has zero rest mass and charge and a spin of one. γ

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photon British  

/ ˈfəʊtɒn /

noun

1. a quantum of electromagnetic radiation, regarded as a particle with zero rest mass and charge, unit spin, and energy equal to the product of the frequency of the radiation and the Planck constant

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photon Scientific  

/ fō′tŏn′ /

1. The subatomic particle that carries the electromagnetic force and is the quantum of electromagnetic radiation. The photon has a rest mass of zero, but has measurable momentum, exhibits deflection by a gravitational field, and can exert a force. It has no electric charge, has an indefinitely long lifetime, and is its own antiparticle.

2. See Note at electromagnetic radiation See Table at subatomic particle

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photon Cultural  

1. The quantum, or bundle of energy, in which light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation are emitted. (See atom.)

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Etymology

Origin of photon

First recorded in 1900–05; phot- + -on ¹

Example Sentences

In a key demonstration, the researchers successfully stored very weak light pulses containing only a few photons for several hundred nanoseconds.

From Science Daily

"On the Earth, lots of things are hot, and that heat really interferes with the observations because it's another source of photons that you have to deal with," Zhang said.

From Science Daily

Researchers at the University of Iowa have identified a new way to "purify" photons, a development that could improve both the performance and security of light based quantum technologies.

From Science Daily

"A quantum internet is a very different beast from current nascent cryptographic applications. It's the same primary mechanism but you need significantly more photons -- more bandwidth -- to connect quantum computers," said Professor Devitt.

From Science Daily

In this three-dimensional candidate material, the researchers observed both emergent photons and spinons -- key hallmarks of quantum spin ice.

From Science Daily