From: r_delaney2001@yahoo.com   
      
   I'm trying to get a handle on classical vs. quantum optics.   
      
   In geometric optics, there's the diffraction limit; you   
   can't resolve an object smaller than the wavelength u   
   which hits it.  OK, let's say you shine light on a   
   macroscopic black body, of the same width as u.  It   
   absonbs the energy, but its size and shape are fuzzy,   
   if we look at its shadow, or whatever other observation.   
   Nor can we say where the light was absorbed, that's a   
   quantum concept.   
      
   Now, let's do the same thing, using a quantum   
   mechanics viewpoint, with a single photon of the   
   same u.  Is it correct to say that the wavelength   
   corresponds to the Heisenberg uncertainty?  The   
   photon is absorbed at a specific point, but because   
   of its long u, we can't say where.  In this formulation,   
   the light wave becomes a so-called 'probability wave'.   
   And since we're unsure where it is, as Heisenberg   
   would say, we obtain the same diffraction limit fuzziness.   
      
   Next, the question of entropy.  In classical physics,   
   the energy is dissipated within the target, and we   
   have the Q, T, S formula.  Presumably, we get the   
   same answer via a statistical mechanics model.   
      
   But in QM, what's the entropy gain?  More crucially,   
   since the photon lands at a particular point, does   
   the location affect the entropy?  And does it matter   
   whether we look at where it landed?   
      
   --   
   Rich   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)