High School Light and Reflections in Space

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The discussion centers on the nature of light and reflections in space, inspired by Feynman's book on quantum electrodynamics (QED). A question is raised about the existence of areas in the universe with significant thickness of matter or energy that light can reflect off. The concept of a Reflection Nebula is suggested as a potential example, where light reflects off dense interstellar dust. Additionally, the reflective properties of thin sheets of gold are mentioned, highlighting that even small thicknesses can effectively reflect light. The conversation emphasizes the intriguing relationship between light, matter, and energy in the universe.
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I am reading Feynman's book on QED and something struck me about light. I know that we can only calculate the probability of where a photon goes. After that I came across how a partial reflection affects light. My question is, is there a place in the universe where there is a great thickness of matter or energy that light reflects off of?p.s I apologize in advance if I am in the wrong forum.
 
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Welcome to the PF. :smile:

Do you mean like a Reflection Nebula? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflection_nebula

200px-Reflection.nebula.arp.750pix.jpg
 

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Marc_72 said:
where there is a great thickness of matter or energy that light reflects off of?

You don't have to go very far. Gold can be formed into very thin sheets several millionths of an inch thick and it will reflect most of the light incident upon it.

HTB16SAISXXXXXXQXXXXq6xXFXXXQ.jpg


But I am pretty sure that is not what you were thinking?
 

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Thread 'Two equivalent statements of time reversal symmetric Hamiltonian'

Time reversal invariant Hamiltonians must satisfy ##[H,\Theta]=0## where ##\Theta## is time reversal operator. However, in some texts (for example see Many-body Quantum Theory in Condensed Matter Physics an introduction, HENRIK BRUUS and KARSTEN FLENSBERG, Corrected version: 14 January 2016, section 7.1.4) the time reversal invariant condition is introduced as ##H=H^*##. How these two conditions are identical?
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