Re-evaluation of the propagation of radiation in the spherical wave form""

It is well accepted that radiation propagates in the free space (without obstacles) in a spherical wave form as well as in a plane wave form. Almost all observed phenomena such as interference, diffraction etc are explained satisfactorily on the basis of spherical wave propagation with a slight alteration in the mathematical treatment. However, one of the fundamental aspects, namely the intensity of the radiation as a function of the distance still remains an unsolved problem as the intensity varies with 1/(distance) 2 when one represents the propagation in terms of spherical waves while it is independent of the distance if it is considered as a plane wave. In order to understand this puzzle, the propagation by a spherical wave form is reexamined. It is found that conversion of fields into particle (vice versa), via the field quantization process, explains several dilemma related with the radiation propagation. Copyright © 2012 De Gruyter.