Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] Salon article -- off topic

[Steve Schear]

David Reed's physics is not strictly correct.  He maintains that "Photons 
in free space act almost exclusively as waves. Therefore, when they cross 
paths they merely set up an interference pattern for the very brief time of 
their interaction. No energy is exchanged and the quantum state of each 
photon is unchanged after they pass each other."

While in a vacuum this is most certainly true, in the air or other media 
where matter is present as the photons cross paths this is not necessarily 
true.  From Quantum Electro Dynamics we know that photons routinely 
interact with the electrons of nearby matter and that these interactions 
can modify or convert the photons and the states of the matter.  We see 
these interactions every day. That is how signals interact inside antennas. 
(which are seas of electrons). That is how signals reflect and refract. You 
can get frequency doubling, you can get tropospheric tunneling, etc.

Since David is promoting a new regulatory regime based on good science his 
proposals need to take into account QED and the effects on his proposals, 
if any.  I've brought this to David's attention but neither of us has the 
rigorous background to adequately field these questions.

Interestingly, the audio spectrum is also limited in bandwidth and 
communications capacity. Why has Congress not regulated sound pressure 
waves?  My recollection is that they have declined to do so because most 
sound waves generally do not travel sufficiently far, with sufficient 
intensity, as to cause problems in adjoining states (its good to remember 
that the FCC's authority seems to rest entirely on the U.S. Constitution's 
Commerce Clause).  I think one could easily make the case that although all 
radio waves are theoretically capable of traveling almost infinite 
distances, in a practical sense the contribution of small signal microwave 
devices to the electromagnetic field density across state lines is 
similarly negligible and may in fact be undetectable by almost any means 
under most conditions.  If so, is there a constitutional basis for the 
FCC's regulation of low power microwave transmissions within 
states?  Except to those that view federal authority as limited only by 
whatever it feels is "Necessary and Proper", I would maintain there is none.

steve