Is there any theory that characterizes light as something other than a particle?

[Realitycheck]

I've read a bit about these standard theories, and quantum theories, and string theories, and this is what I have initially come up with regarding light. It has its own little section in the electromagnetic spectrum. Put all of the colors together and you get white light, kind of like broadband light. Is the light that comes out of a lightbulb considered to consist of photons or is the term "photon" really just a name for an imaginary elementary particle that meets the conditions required to be classified as an elementary particle according to proven laws of physics? If that is the case, are there other particles that stream out of the sun that cover other sections of the electromagnetic spectrum that are not visible? Is the light coming from a blue lightbulb considered to be of blue photons that only cover one really small area of the spectrum?

 

... and now we find out about wave-particle duality ... how the little ring of color coming from your eyeball to my eyeball is actually a wave, err, and a particle at the same time

 

Light really works for me as a wave, not as a particle, so I was wondering if there are any good theories that support this.

[Realitycheck]

Let me guess. It has something to do with some law that states that something that delivers energy must have mass.

[ajb]

Yes, Maxwell's equations. They describe light as waves in the electromagantic field. This description of light as a wave is fine for a lot of phenomena, things like antenna theory. However, as soon as you start to look a how light interacts with atoms and molecules you need to use quantum mechanics which tells us that light is a particle.

 

So, I think it depends on what you are trying to describe/calculate to how you think about light/photons.