Abstract

Photons and neutrinos are modeled as oscillatory states of the electromagnetic field confined within a local domain, the motion of which is governed by Maxwell's equations. The size and shape of the domain are limited by the relativistic principle of causality; i.e., the interval between events within the domain is timelike. These localized, soliton waves are called ?wavicles.? The solutions of Maxwell's equations are eigenstates of the intrinsic (spin) angular momentum with eigenvalues k, k being an integer or half-integer. The causally limited domain is a circular ellipsoid of length (the wavelength) and circumference k. The solutions possess helicity, which for k = 1 correspond to left or right circularly polarized light, and for k = to the neutrino and the antineutrino. This wavicle model of the photon correlates very well with many of the experimental properties of light. It predicts how light is transmitted through apertures: We report a confirmatory measurement of the photon's diameter for microwaves. Multiphoton phenomena are predicted to occur above the observed intensity thresholds. The production of multiphoton wavicles in stimulated emission explains the occurrence of photon bunching. The wavicle also explains the directional and polarization properties of a helical microwave antenna. The photon wavicle is the physical basis of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle; i.e., the wavicle is the quantum of action. The product of the wavicle's length and momentum is its relativistically invariant action kh. This action is necessarily involved in any observable process in which the wavicle is totally absorbed or emitted.