Energy of a light beam is only angular momentum not liner momentum. Though light travels it does not associate it's energy linearly. This is why one section unpolarized light is blocked by a polarizer. The angular momentum is fully absorbed in one direction by the polarized filter. The polarized filter has long chained molecules aligned in one direction. These molecules has the ability to rotate in one direction only, so the angular momentum is passed on to the molecules in that direction and absorbed in the perpendicular direction. Therefore transmitted light will be rotating only in one direction. Then polarization is in that direction.
Can all attributes of an electromagnetic wave be associated with attributes of a photon. We know that photon do not have mass. It has energy and momentum. Leaving all the mathematical jargon out the photon can be thought as a particle of a finite size. If it has a size it occupies space. It may further have attributes associated with a particle. Spin or rotation is one, then it may have the property of stretch. Or vibration similar to the vibrations that a golf ball incurs when it is hit. It may not be symmetrical one side may be larger than the other giving complex rotations. Some of the already accepted mathematical attributes are originally associated with physical attributes - spin is one.
Currently accepted attributes associated with electromagnetic radiation are: Polarization, circular, elliptical, directional at two perpendicular planes. Then light spin angular momentum SAM - associated with polarization and light orbital angular momentum OAM.
We may be able to do away with electromagnetic radiation which states that light behaves like a wave. Then interpret that light is a particle and it appears like a wave because of Heisenberg Principle
- Why light pass through glass? It is said that the transmitted photons do not have enough energy to move the electrons in glass to a higher energy level, therefore they are not absorbed. But ultraviolet light having more energy are absorbed by glass. There will be no problem with this if we try to do away with waves and stick our interpretations to particles.
- Birefringence, double refraction of light. This split a light beam into two polarized beams that travel in slightly different paths.
- Polarization is the strong component in the wave theory. If it can be explained by particles fully it will be a great win to only particle theory. The problems are in these areas:
- Polarization of light in perpendicular directions.
- Circular polarization
- Light transmitted in two velocities depending on polarization
- The phase of light waves. Quarter wave plates converting linearly polarized to circular polarized.
- Spin of photons
- Angular momentum of photons
- Polarization by Transmission
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Polarization by Reflection
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Polarization by Refraction
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Polarization by Scattering
- Birefringence is different refractive indices depending on polarization.
- How light goes through glass and why it's velocity is reduced.
- What is the reason light is slower in other mediums like glass and water. If the explanation is that, light is absorbed by atoms and remitted, this goes against the argument that light is transmitted through glass because photons do not have enough energy to be absorbed. Further, there cannot be entanglement inside these mediums. If there is entanglement it breaks when absorbed and remitted. On the other hand if the travel path is longer in other mediums, say it is not a straight line but waved, slower velocities can be explained.
- Light may be traveling in vacuum in a certain way. When glass is encountered some type of transformation is undergone by the photons. When light leaves glass reverse happens.
- Why and how photons go through glass and why it's velocity different from vacuum. These questions need deep understanding how photons travel at all and then through vacuum. Sometimes it may be necessary to understand what is movement of any matter. Velocity of light being constant relative to any moving body really complicates matters. These questions should be answered fully to understand properly this phenomena.
- However, it need to be accepted that some type of interaction happens between photons and molecules, this is confirmed by light traveling through materiel and existence of birefringence.
- Photons and phonons are the same. Light travels through materiel as sound waves. Since the energy of photons is not sufficient to be absorbed by electrons of glass atoms, they are transmitted through glass as a sound wave at a lesser velocity than light.
- The light is different than sound. Sound uses different type of vibrations of atoms and light also use vibrations of the medium but for them movement of atoms will be different. Or else light and sound should travel at the same velocity. More research need to be done in this area to find out how these vibrations happens. Some sort of energy is transferred by light to the glass atoms and glass atoms carry on this energy and re-emit it at the end.
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