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7

Amplitude coefficients are complex. The reflection and transmission coefficients must account for both amplitude change and phase change. In order to account for both of these, complex coefficients are required. These are the most general, and are needed for a complete description. In some special (and simple) cases, the phase shift is $0^\circ$ or ...

3

This is a very good question. First of all, you are absolutely correct that, for a single electron, invariance under $\phi\to-\phi$ means invariance under $y\to-y$. This is obvious just from looking at the coordinates $x=\rho\cos(\phi)$ and $y=\rho\sin(\phi)$. It is clear that $\phi\to-\phi$ means the exact same thing as $y\to-y$. The answer is a little ...

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The answer is that the term symbol refers to the entire, multielectronic, molecule. You are indeed correct that a single electron in a $\Sigma$ state must be symmetric under reflection about a plane that contains the internuclear axis. If you have multiple electrons, however, you can still have a global antisymmetry under such reflections, and get their ...

1

Light does indeed bear momentum. If you have a quantity $E$ joules of light in a plane wave beam, it has linear momentum $\frac{E}{c}$ in the direction of propagation. So if it bounces off a mirror, the impulse transferred to the mirror is $2\frac{E}{c}$, in the direction of propagation, at least at first. Most certainly, the light bounces back. If the ...

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