Saturday, June 11, 2016

optics - Explain reflection laws at the atomic level


The "equal angles" law of refection on a flat mirror is a macroscopic phenomenon. To put it in anthropomorphic terms, how do individual photons know the orientation of the mirror so as to bounce off in the correct direction?



Answer




According to quantum electrodynamics (QED), light can be thought of as going along all paths. However, the only paths that do not experience destructive interference are those in the neighbourhood of paths with stationary (e.g., minimal) action (time), which, in your case, is the "equal angles" path.


I strongly recommend reading Feynman's QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. In the link you'll also find a link to video.




So, with QED in hand, anthropomorphically, photons don't need to know where to go, because they go everywhere. :)


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