The Shadow of a Laser Beam and the Interaction of Light with Matter

The Boltzmann factor not only characterises the relationship between particle energies and their respective populations as a function of temperature, but also indicates that absorption and emission processes involving photons of different colours (i.e., frequencies) are, in general, mutually independent [29]. However, this stands in contrast to experiments in the field of nonlinear optics, such as the one by Abrahao et al. (2024) [1]. The authors of that publication show that green laser light (532 nm wavelength) enhances the absorption of blue laser light (450 nm) in a ruby crystal, and explain this phenomenon using a hierarchical orbital model.In the context of an alternative interpretation of quantum mechanics [28] (as opposed to the Copenhagen interpretation), based on the works of A. Einstein (1916) [9] and H. De Raedt et al. (2005) [5], a different possible explanation emerges, which is outlined here. Based on this model and the findings of Abrahao et al. (2024), modified interference experiments are proposed. These may help clarify whether particles—such as photons—interfere with themselves [8, 13, 14, 15], or whether quantum mechanics is merely an ensemble theory, without descriptive power concerning individual events [12].