I will admit that photons are very strange entities. just because we dont understand them completely doesnt mean we dont have very precise predictions as to how they behave. we have even less understanding about gravity but we can predict its effects too.
We have predictions of
WHAT will happen and a story that we have fabricated about
HOW it happens ian, and that is all. And the story we have fabricated about photons has some pretty serious errors which Enistein himself pointed out. He didn't accept photons as actual entities, why do you?
You remain stuck in misunderstanding till you come to terms with the fact that photons are not entities. They are not things. Photon is a word that describes the smallest measurable bit of energy in an EM field. That's it. There is no such "thing" as a photon unless you are calling the smallest measurable bit of energy in a field "A THING".
explain to me why you think photons 'disappear' rather than get used up in competing EM fields. what would the physical differences be? are all types of EM fields alike?
More lies ian. You are apparently incapable of discussing this topic without twisting, mischaracterizing, and fabricating upon everything I say.
Photons are bits of energy ian. Nothing more. When the energy in an EM field is expended, photons are expended. The word photon, as it applies to EM fields means the magnitude of the field. These two sentences regarding the mangnitue of EM fields have the same meaning:
How many of the smallest measurable bits of energy is it composed of?
How many photons is it composed of?
There is no "disappearing" or magic, or anything at all supernatural going on ian. There is simply energy being expended. The decrease in magnitude of an EM field as a result of destructive interference by another field is well known and documented ian and it is a critical consideration with every microwave dish, cell phone tower, communication satellite and satellite receiver, radio tower, and any other means of communication that involves the transmission and reception of EM fields.
I doubt that you will find any scientific source that states that the number of photons the field is made of is decreased via destructive interference because by definition the field is composed of photons. At that level, authors expect that you at least know the basic definitions of the words they use and can apply them to the topic. By definition, a photon is the quanta, that is the smallest measurable bit, of an EM field. When the magnitude of a field is reduced, the number of photons has been reduced. Where did they go? They were expended doing work. Energy is expended when work is performed ian. The reduction of the magnitude of one EM field by another via destructive interfernce constitutes work.
Your continued misrepresentation of what I have said over and over has grown so tiresome that I don't really care to talk to you ian. It is impossible to simply discuss the topic because as in this post, nothing new is being discussed. The whole thing is nothing more than an attempt to set right, your dishonest characterization of what I have already said.
You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what a photon is and till you get past your notion that it is a "thing" you can't move forward.
say something in your own words so that we may better understand your somewhat confused position.
It has all been my own words ian. I rarely need to cut and paste to simply discuss a topic.
As to confusion, the only one confused is you and it really isn't confusion. It is misunderstanding. You don't grasp what the word photon means and therefore you can't apply it to EM fields or their subtraction. You apparently can add EM fields because it only involves adding photons to a field but when it comes to subtraction, a well known and documented phenomena, you can't get it because it doesn't jibe with the picture you have in your head of what a photon is.
You can't grasp that when an EM field expends energy in opposition to another EM field that photons are being expended as they are nothing more than the smallest measurable bit of the field. I can't help you ian because you can't grasp what I am saying. You can't jibe what you believe with the fact that we know undeniably that EM fields can diminsih, or in fact, cancel each other out so you simply can't hear it. To accept the fact that a photon is not a thing but just the smallest measurable bit of energy that makes up an EM field would start a cascade which would ultimately require that you discard your silly notion that CO2 can cause warming and you simply aren't prepared to do that. You are a believer ian and you hold your belief in the face of the laws of phyiscis and the defnition of every science dictionary I could lay my hands on.