The features of a quantum description of radiation in an optically dense medium

This paper is devoted to the theory of quantum electromagnetic field in an optically dense medium. Self-consistent equations describing interaction between a quantum field and a quantum dielectric medium are obtained from the first principles, i.e., outside a phenomenological description. Using these equations, we found a transformation (of the Bogoliubov transformation type) that converts the operators of the “vacuum” field into operators of collective perturbations of the field and an ensemble of atoms, that is, photons in the medium. Transformation parameter is the refractive index of the wave mode considered. It is shown that besides the energy of the collective electromagnetic field, the energy of photons in the medium includes the energy of the internal degrees of freedom of the substance and the energy of near-field dipole interaction between atoms in the polarized medium. The concept of negative energy photons is introduced on the basis of self-consistent equations.