Electromagnetic energy flow lines as possible paths of photons

TL;DR

This paper proposes an electromagnetic energy flow-line model to explain interference patterns observed with single photons, drawing an analogy to Bohmian trajectories for massive particles.

Contribution

It introduces a novel energy flow-line approach to photon interference, linking classical electromagnetic theory with quantum-like trajectory concepts.

Findings

Energy flow lines can replicate interference patterns behind a grating.

The model draws an analogy between electromagnetic flow lines and Bohmian trajectories.

Provides a new perspective on photon path visualization in interference experiments.

Abstract

Motivated by recent experiments where interference patterns behind a grating are obtained by accumulating single photon events, here we provide an electromagnetic energy flow-line description to explain the emergence of such patterns. We find and discuss an analogy between the equation describing these energy flow lines and the equation of Bohmian trajectories used to describe the motion of massive particles.