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3 votes
5 answers
491 views

Variations in Refractive Index of Materials

It's quite a common fact that different types of glass have different refractive indices. Most sites I've found attribute these differences to variations in the 'density' of the glass, which is not ...
Yuval Weissler's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
214 views

How can the speed of light in matter be measured?

Experiments such as Focault's measure speed of light in matter. Focault's experimental set-up is based on the idea that it takes more time for light to travel through matter, which will result in the ...
PhysicsTeacher's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
233 views

Are there any real-world examples of refraction of light by magnetic permeability?

The question Fresnel Transmission Coefficient for Magnetic Field is interesting. Thinking about it led me to reflect upon what little I know of the history of optics, with refraction by lenses and ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 6,273
1 vote
0 answers
47 views

Refractive index in metamaterials [duplicate]

Why do metamaterials have $n<0$? They are defined to be those materials with $\varepsilon <0$ and $\mu<0$, but the definition of the refractive index is $$n=\sqrt{\frac{\varepsilon\mu}{\...
DrManhattan's user avatar