All Questions
4
questions
0
votes
1
answer
50
views
What does the wave created during refraction look like?
People always describe refraction as light stimulating the electrons in the glass, which create their own light, which interferes with the original wave. They always say “the math is too complex, but ...
- 103
0
votes
2
answers
143
views
What happens to the photon when a polariton forms?
When a photon passes from the vacuum to a medium such as water, a polariton forms in the water which carries the energy from the photon at a slower speed through the medium. The polariton being ...
0
votes
1
answer
709
views
How is light slowing down in a medium thought of in the photon picture? [duplicate]
The speed of light in any medium besides vacuum is smaller than $c$. In a classical way, I just look at that as a wave that propagates less fast, the change in EM-field is passed on slower. How should ...
- 1,004
85
votes
4
answers
40k
views
What is the mechanism behind the slowdown of light/photons in a transparent medium?
So light travels slower in glass (for example) than in a vacuum. What causes light to slow down? Or: How does it slow down? If light passes through the medium, is it not essentially traveling in the "...
- 1,063