Probing the mathematical nature of the photon field

The mathematical content of the interaction term of quantum electrodynamics is examined under the following assumption: It is presumed that the apparent degrees-of-freedom of the photon field reflect the kinematical degrees-of-freedom of the two-particle state space of massive fermions, rather than independent degrees-of-freedom of the photon field. This assumption is verified by reproducing the numerical value of the fine-structure constant.