Resonant absroption

[Thierry12]

When a wave propagates in a materiel (wave has same frequency as natural frequency of the material) there is attenuation. Is the energy absorbed by the materiel?

 

[Andy Resnick]

It could be. The light could also be scattered into a different direction.

 

[jensa]

Attenuation of waves in a collisionless plasma is known as Landau Attenuation or Landau Damping. There is a wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landau_damping