Huygen's Principle: Understanding Light Diffraction and Refraction in Materials

[Physicsissuef]

I want to know, when there is diffraction or refraction of light, are the atoms inside of the material releasing also waves in whole directions, like on this pictures:
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5714/80472685hw1.jpg"

 

[Claude Bile]

It is not atoms that release the wavelets, it's the wavefront itself.

Claude.

 

[Physicsissuef]

It is not atoms that release the wavelets, it's the wavefront itself.

Claude.

Do the lattice atoms from inside of the material release waves?

 

[Physicsissuef]

Anybody know?

 

[Claude Bile]

Do the lattice atoms from inside of the material release waves?

Assuming that, by "release" you mean "emit"...

Any atom can emit waves through spontaneous or stimulated emission.

If, however a wave passes through a transparent medium, then it is incorrect (or, at best, misleading) to say that the atoms within the medium have "emitted" a wave.

Claude.

 

[Physicsissuef]

Assuming that, by "release" you mean "emit"...

Any atom can emit waves through spontaneous or stimulated emission.

If, however a wave passes through a transparent medium, then it is incorrect (or, at best, misleading) to say that the atoms within the medium have "emitted" a wave.

Claude.

But Huygen's principle can't explain what happens in the inner structure of the material, when there is transparent medium.
Is in mirrors, have total reflection, aren't there any refraction?

 

[Deathwing]

With a mirror there is no refraction. It is completely refecting what hit it. I'm sure some energy gets absorbed in the process.

 

[ZapperZ]

But Huygen's principle can't explain what happens in the inner structure of the material, when there is transparent medium.
Is in mirrors, have total reflection, aren't there any refraction?

I am having a bit of a problem understanding why you want to "merge" Huygen's principle with actual QM description of optical transport in matter (which you can learn from solid state/condensed matter physics, or in our FAQ). Huygen's principle, as we know it now, is more of a "phenomenological model" of classical optics. There are many aspects of such models that will simply not work when you try to incorporate atoms and matter into such things.

Zz.

 

[Physicsissuef]

Yes, I also thought that it is just one model for describing what happens when there is reflection or refraction. Anyway, I have read so many articles, is it light EM wave, particle or mixture of both?

 

[ZapperZ]

Read our FAQ.

Zz.