Thanks for understanding my situation too. I think I was just confusing concepts when I asked that question about the direction of an electron changing, so you can just neglect that statement. Your second post cleared up some more things for me - it was great!
Thank you for your reply!
I do have a question about your explanation. When you said, "In a material with an indirect band gap, the excitation energy for absorption and emission is higher than the minimal energy difference between the ground and excited state", were you referring to the need...
I've been having a very difficult time understanding why band structure is expressed in terms of momentum/crystalline directions. I've included a picture of the band structure of silicon so that you can better understand my question.
I think I understand basic crystalline structures and the...