There is No Such Thing as Photons

Photon: a falsely presumed particle that is supposedly a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves. Photons are alleged to be massless.

Particle: a small, localized object that can be described by physical properties, such as volume, density, or mass.

Contradiction in Terms. Particles are tiny bits of matter that have mass and are localized (i.e., are part of physical objects). Photons are massless and nonlocalized (i.e., radiating everywhere) and thus logically cannot be particles. Photons are not subatomic and thus fall outside the scope of quantum physics.

In 1905, Albert Einstein published a paper in which he proposed that light would be better explained by modelling electromagnetic waves as consisting of localized, discrete wave-packets. He called such a wave-packet a light quantum. Einstein thus modified the description of light to fit his preconceived notion. Light is ever-present electromagnetic energy that radiates in waves with steady amplitudes and frequencies. Quantum theory is thus irrelevant to the nature of light, which does not propagate in packets. In 1926, physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis coined the term photon for this falsely presumed quantum of radiant energy.

Individual photons are only inferred to exist because of apparent effects on photoelectric systems:
1. In a photo-multiplier tube, an alleged photon strikes a metal plate and knocks free an electron, initiating an ever-amplifying avalanche of electrons.
2. On a microscopic capacitor, an alleged incident photon generates a charge that can be detected.
3. In a Geiger counter, alleged photons ionize gas molecules.
These inferences are seriously flawed, however. What is being observed in all three cases is electromagnetic energy moving electrons. There is nothing in these observations to indicate or even suggest that this electromagnetic energy could be in the form of particles (photons).

Circular Reasoning: The above inferences are examples of the logical error of circular reasoning, i.e., including the conclusion in the assumption, then using the assumption to prove the conclusion: it is assumed that photons exist, and measuring their effects is proof of their existence.

Light Diffracts: In 1804, Thomas Young established the wave theory of light. He did so by means of an interference experiment (predecessor of the double slit experiment) in which he reflected sunlight with a steering mirror through a small hole and split the beam in half using a paper card. He also mentioned the possibility of passing light through two slits in his description of this experiment.

When light passes through a hole or slit, it diffracts. Diffraction is the interference or bending of waves through an aperture into the region of geometrical shadow of the aperture. The diffracting aperture becomes a secondary source of the propagating wave.

Particles (electrons, protons, atoms) that are fired as projectiles through a double-slit apparatus do not diffract. They are detected as white dots on a screen. Light diffracts. Particles do not. Thus, light cannot be comprised of particles.

When particles are allowed to build up one by one before passing through a double slit, however, an artificially induced diffraction pattern emerges. Misinterpretation of these results became the basis of wave-particle duality theory, namely that quantum entities supposedly exhibit either particle or wave properties depending on the experimental circumstances. Light, however, is not a quantum entity. It is electromagnetic wave radiation. Particles are tiny bits of matter that are incapable of independent motion and thus have no intrinsic wavelike properties. To extract particles from matter and fire them through slits as projectiles is an artificial construct that is irrelevant to the study of light. Light is a continuous electromagnetic wave. Particles are matter. There is no duality.

Reference: Rowland D. Photons are nonexistent: a conclusive argument. OSP Journal of Physics and Astronomy 2024;5(1).