NIST/JILA Physicist James Thompson Superradiant Laser

Physicists at JILA have demonstrated a novel "superradiant" laser design with the potential to be 100 to 1,000 times more stable than the best conventional visible lasers. This type of laser could boost the performance of the most advanced atomic clocks and related technologies, such as communications and navigation systems as well as space-based astronomical instruments.

[@NIST]

Think of it like this: the average US family size is 2.6, despite the fact that each family member comes in units of 1. Similarly, if we ask the question "Is a photon present between the laser mirrors?" then the only possible answers in quantum mechanics are 0, 1, 2, 3, etc. Very roughly, we find that 4 out of 5 times the answer is 0 photons, and approximately 1 out of 5 times the answer is 1 photon. The average photon number is then 0.2 photons.

[@NIST]

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[@northerntropics]

A fraction of a photon. Could you please explain more. I thought photons came in multiple of hf (where h is Planck’s constant and f is frequency)