I understand that photons derive from the quantization of electromagnetic field, classically described by Maxwell equations. Can you, just by looking Maxwell equations, deduce that photons must have spin 1 ?
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It's a general fact that the quanta associated to vector fields have spin-1, and that electrodynamics is described by the four-potential vector field at the level of the Lagrangian. For the precise method of quantization of vector fields, see any good QFT book. – ACuriousMind Aug 19 '16 at 12:44
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2This is a question related to @ACuriousMind's answer: http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/47547/why-do-many-people-say-vector-fields-describe-spin-1-particle-but-omit-the-spin – N0va Aug 19 '16 at 14:09
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1Just to clarify ACuriousMind's comment: we don't quantise the electric or magnetic fields because they aren't individually Lorentz covariant. Instead we combine them to construct a four-vector field called the electromagnetic four-potential, usually denoted by $\mathbf A$. This vector field is what gets quantised. Since it's a vector field the quanta have spin 1. – John Rennie Aug 19 '16 at 14:13
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1Possible duplicate of: Why do many people say vector fields describe spin-1 particle but omit the spin-0 part? – John Rennie Aug 19 '16 at 14:15