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edevere
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My general question is: can high energy photons convert into many lower energy photons? Could the reverse reaction occur spontaneously?
Let's say we have a single photon that was emitted from a distant supernova. We detect it here on Earth. The photon hasn't converted into multiple lower energy photons during the path from the supernova to the Earth. It just gets red-shifted as space expands.
So, to start we have: Energy = 12 eV, Spin = 1, Momentum = 12 eV/c, Charge = 0
If the photon could split into 3 lower energy photons of Spin (+1,-1,+1) all in the same direction, we would have:
Energy = 4+4+4=12 eV, Spin = 1-1+1=1, Momentum = 4+4+4=12 eV/c, Charge = 0+0+0=0
Since bosons are allowed to be in the same energy state, we could have all 3 new photons be exactly the same energy. Though, the energy values could have be any number of different combinations.
What law of physics prevents this splitting from happening? And vice versa, what prevents the 3 photons from converting into 1 higher energy photon?
Thanks,
Eddie
Let's say we have a single photon that was emitted from a distant supernova. We detect it here on Earth. The photon hasn't converted into multiple lower energy photons during the path from the supernova to the Earth. It just gets red-shifted as space expands.
So, to start we have: Energy = 12 eV, Spin = 1, Momentum = 12 eV/c, Charge = 0
If the photon could split into 3 lower energy photons of Spin (+1,-1,+1) all in the same direction, we would have:
Energy = 4+4+4=12 eV, Spin = 1-1+1=1, Momentum = 4+4+4=12 eV/c, Charge = 0+0+0=0
Since bosons are allowed to be in the same energy state, we could have all 3 new photons be exactly the same energy. Though, the energy values could have be any number of different combinations.
What law of physics prevents this splitting from happening? And vice versa, what prevents the 3 photons from converting into 1 higher energy photon?
Thanks,
Eddie