Time to Stop Telling Biophysics Students that Light is Primarily a Wave

TL;DR

This paper advocates for teaching light primarily as a quantum phenomenon to better align with modern optical techniques and improve student understanding in biophysics.

Contribution

It demonstrates that a quantum perspective on light simplifies teaching complex optical techniques and enhances student comprehension compared to traditional wave-based pedagogy.

Findings

Students grasp quantum view as well or better than wave view

Quantum approach clarifies understanding of advanced optical techniques

Mid-semester students can integrate new techniques easily

Abstract

Standard pedagogy introduces optics as though it were a consequence of Maxwell's equations, and only grudgingly admits, usually in a rushed aside, that light has a particulate character that can somehow be reconciled with the wave picture. Recent revolutionary advances in optical imaging, however, make this approach more and more unhelpful: How are we to describe two-photon imaging, FRET, localization microscopy, and a host of related techniques to students who think of light primarily as a wave? I was surprised to find that everything I wanted my biophysics students to know about light, including image formation, x-ray diffraction, and even Bessel beams, could be expressed as well (or better) from the quantum viewpoint pioneered by Richard Feynman. Even my undergraduate students grasp this viewpoint as well as (or better than) the traditional one, and by mid-semester they are already well positioned to integrate the latest advances into their understanding. Moreover, I have found that this approach clarifies my own understanding of new techniques.