Tuesday, December 25, 2018

optics - Does total internal reflection really reflect every single photon?


In certain cases of refraction, light can be totally internally reflected (TIR) instead of being transmitted. One learns that literally 100% of the light is reflected back in such an interaction.



My question is simple: To what degree is this true? Certainly, geometric imperfections could effectively lead to different geometry outside the TIR regime, but are there other effects? Tunneling? Photon-photon interaction? Interference? If so, about what strength are they ($1:10^3$, $1:10^6$, $1:10^{18}$, ...)?




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classical mechanics - Moment of a force about a given axis (Torque) - Scalar or vectorial?

I am studying Statics and saw that: The moment of a force about a given axis (or Torque) is defined by the equation: $M_X = (\vec r \times \...