Witnessing Colorful Interference Patterns with a Benham Top

[cragar]

When i spin a benham top why do i see colors ,
Is this because of the dashed black lines , that i am now pulsing white light , so now the white light is out of phase and the red , green , yellow photons are interfering so i see colors ,
Is this is what is going on .

 

[JDługosz]

When i spin a benham top why do i see colors ,

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benham%27s_top" , nobody knows for sure.

Is this because of the dashed black lines , that i am now pulsing white light , so now the white light is out of phase and the red , green , yellow photons are interfering so i see colors , Is this is what is going on .

No, it's not. Different photons don't interfere with each other. You are confusing the effect of the probability function of a photon taking multiple paths interfering with itself.

 

[cragar]

ok then what's going on , i know it as something to with pulsing white light so my brain will see colors .

 

[cragar]

someone has to know something about a benham top .
we are just spinning something with black and white on it .

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

From a quick search, it seems that precise reasons are not known, but it may have to do with the reaction times of vision cells on our retinas.

For example, cells that detect red may have a slighly different reaction time than cells that detect blue. In this case, the various white light pulses would be time-resolved by the nerve cells.

But apparently, different people see different colors at diffrent areas and times, so I believe this is mostly a neurological issue, beyond what can be precisely described by physics.

Perhaps someone could measure the reflection spectra with a spectrum analyser. I suspect no colors would be detected, other than the original white.