Photon: history, mass, charge

TL;DR

This paper reviews the historical development, explores the upper limits of photon mass, and critically discusses the interpretations of photon charge searches, highlighting inconsistencies in existing models.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of photon history, summarizes current constraints on photon mass, and critically analyzes models of photon charge, clarifying misconceptions.

Findings

Photon history spans early 20th century development.

Upper limits on photon mass are discussed with literature review.

Existing models of charged photons face significant theoretical issues.

Abstract

The talk consists of three parts. ``History'' briefly describes the emergence and evolution of the concept of photon during the first two decades of the 20th century. ``Mass'' gives a short review of the literature on the upper limit of the photon's mass. ``Charge'' is a critical discussion of the existing interpretation of searches for photon charge. Schemes, in which all photons are charged, are grossly inconsistent. A model with three kinds of photons (positive, negative and neutral) seems at first sight to be more consistent, but turns out to have its own serious problems.