All Questions
26
questions
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Is there a good quantum explanation of refraction? [duplicate]
I'm aware of the classical explanation of refraction which deals with light being a wave that gets "slowed" down while passing from a medium to another. One problem that I have with this ...
- 99
2
votes
0
answers
72
views
Photon momentum in Snell's law of refraction
In the drivation of Snell's law for light as EM waves, we have the wave vector components parallel to the interface $k1\parallel$ = $k2\parallel$ as shown in the picture.
From $k_{1x} = k_{2x}$, we ...
- 191
1
vote
0
answers
44
views
Can we explain certain light phenomenon like refraction using particle nature of light?
Using Hugyen's principle and wave nature of light, refraction, diffraction are relatively simple to explain but I have been visualing a mental model for a couple of days where the photons on reach the ...
- 113
0
votes
0
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48
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What causes an object to be more reflective than refractive?
This is a question that a high school student asked me and I couldn't give him a satisfactory answer. He started by saying that
An object appears red because the energy corresponding to a "red&...
- 8,230
0
votes
1
answer
81
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Is there such a thing as a bare polariton?
When dealing with photons in matter, I have seen it treated in many ways depending on the material, this leads to exciton polaritons (when dealing with electrons and holes), plasmaritons (dealing with ...
- 5,568
8
votes
1
answer
1k
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Why is it that, when light travels in a medium, we say it's made of "quasiparticles"?
I get why, in this model, light isn't really "made of" photons, because photons, by definition have zero mass and travel at $c$, whereas these quasiparticles, if I understand correctly, do ...
- 2,327
1
vote
2
answers
224
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Why is the phase of the reflected light important in the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) experiment?
Trying to understand the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect (Wikipedia link) I got a bit lost with regards to what the reflection phases mean for the experiment and the kind of beam splitter required.
Instead of ...
- 5,568
0
votes
1
answer
50
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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
0
answers
40
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Speed of light exiting a prism [duplicate]
When light travels through a medium, even a sparse medium, it slows down from the speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in that medium.
When that light re-enters a true vacuum, it will resume ...
3
votes
2
answers
306
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Speed of photon
Background:
I originally asked this question
Does a single photon propagate with phase velocity or front velocity through a dispersive material? about the speed of a single photon in a dispersive ...
- 1,803
1
vote
0
answers
104
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Does a single photon propagate with phase velocity or front velocity through a dispersive material?
I know that we explain the slowing down of light in a dispersive medium classically, by inducing small dipoles in the medium (which holds as long as being far away from absorption bands), and the ...
- 1,803
2
votes
2
answers
779
views
Wavefronts, refraction, and the marching soldiers analogy
I am not a physicist, but rather a middle school science teacher. Please be gentle. The marching soldiers has been a really good analogy for explaining why a change of direction is caused by hitting ...
- 43
2
votes
1
answer
343
views
Why does light bend at an angle when it passes through a prism?
i mean when the light go throw the prism it Deviates. At an angle and dissolves at the same time. Do prism atoms have anything to do with this? why it can't go directly in a straight line?
- 49
0
votes
1
answer
194
views
Why can't two truly identical experiments on quantum scale give the same result?
When we refract light on air/water interface, some part of light is reflected while some of it gets refracted.
My question is when we consider light as a photon and send it (photons) one by one, what ...
- 23
6
votes
3
answers
903
views
What is the speed of a photon in water?
What is the speed of light in water? The speed of light in vacuum, divided by the index of refraction for water. And what is the speed of a photon in water?
