Tagged Questions
1
vote
1answer
76 views
Is this mental picture of photon correct?
What is exactly meant by a statement like "there are about 400 photons per cubic cm in certain region"? Should I mentally picture this as 400 discrete photons enclosed in that volume, each moving at ...
3
votes
2answers
190 views
What is a two-photon process?
I am reading some introductory materials on modern optics, in which they mention two-photon processes everywhere. I know fundamental optics and a bit on quantum mechanics. Can anyone explain in a ...
1
vote
0answers
11 views
Speed of Light in a Medium [duplicate]
For light travelling in a medium with refractive index greater than one:
The "average" speed of light is slower than the speed of light in a vacuum. As far as I know, the instantaneous speed of light ...
0
votes
1answer
158 views
Transmission of Gaussian Beam Through Graded-Index Slab
The $ABCD$ matrix of a glass graded-index slab with refractive index $n(y)=n_0(1-\frac{1}{2}\alpha^{2}y^{2})$ and length $d$ is $A=\cos(\alpha d)$, $B=\frac{1}{\alpha}\sin(\alpha d)$, $C=-\alpha ...
-4
votes
1answer
70 views
Photonics: Slab As a Lens [closed]
The question can be found here: http://gyazo.com/fc4d26cd35e6ce368ad2a8ed504f1dcc
The refractive index it references can be found here: http://gyazo.com/94fd2f3b5ea7da9226c3acd56b0024c1
I'm not ...
1
vote
2answers
185 views
Optical Tunneling
Is there light tunneling taking place in optically transparent mediums like glass? wherein light travels a larger path in these mediums without interacting with atoms and without any change in ...
8
votes
4answers
409 views
What longest time ever was achieved at holding light in a closed volume?
For what longest possible time it was possible to hold light in a closed volume with mirrored walls?
I would be most interested for results with empty volume but results with solid-state volume may ...
3
votes
2answers
307 views
why isn't the variance of Fano noise proportional to the number of photon arrivals?
I've been reading "Photon Transfer" by James Janesick and in Chapter 3 (http://spie.org/samples/PM170.pdf) he describes the various sources of noise in a CCD. Basically, incoming photons interact with ...
4
votes
1answer
204 views
Question about Rayleigh scattering
To quote from Wikipedia on elastic scattering, "In this scattering process, the energy (and therefore the wavelength) of the incident photon is conserved and only its direction is changed."
How does ...
3
votes
2answers
536 views
Propagation of light in transparent media: absorption and reemission or scattering?
In the two Phys.SE questions What is the mechanism behind the slowdown of light/photons in a transparent medium? and Why glass is transparent? transparent media were discussed. But I'd like to clarify ...
12
votes
1answer
936 views
How are photons “consumed”?
I have very little background in physics, so I apologize if this question is painfully naive.
Consider the following thought experiment: an observer is in a closed room whose walls, floor, and ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
Why are lasers inefficient?
Why are lasers inefficient? Is it because of the heat lost during lasing? Why couldn't there be thermocouples or turbines in parts of the cooling circuits to extract something out of that heat?
5
votes
2answers
279 views
Photon statistics of an incandescent light source
We usually calibrate the cameras on our microscopes by capturing 20 images of a blurry (not sharp) fluorescent particle. For each pixel in this stack of 20 images we calculate the intensity variance. ...
2
votes
3answers
678 views
Reconciling refraction with particle theory and wave theory
I have searched the web for good answers to why refraction occurs when light moves from one medium to another with different density. I have limited background in physics and want to know if there is ...
