Classical-field description of the quantum effects in the light-atom interaction

Abstract

In this paper I show that light-atom interaction can be described using purely classical field theory without any quantization. In particular, atom excitation by light that accounts for damping due to spontaneous emission is fully described in the framework of classical field theory. I show that three well-known laws of the photoelectric effect can also be derived and that all of its basic properties can be described within classical field theory.