Re: Quantum Function of Mirrors



Igor Khavkine wrote: 
On 2005-08-18, RHNL <rhnl@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"Igor Khavkine" <igor.kh@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:slrndg84ui.1e8.igor.kh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



It would help if you said exactly what you meanby "quantum function of
mirrors". Are you interested in why mirrors act as mirrors (that they
reflect light)? Do you want to know under which conditions the geometric
or wave optics description breaks down and quantum mechanics needs to be
taken into account?

It helps to be specific. 

Dear Igor,

You got it.

Any thoughts or references relevant specifically to the latter?

It would seem that photons 'reverse' direction at the molecular
surface of the 'silvering' or whatever reflective coating is at play,
and that that geometry might be considered in modelling photonic
packets.



I would imagine it would be hard to model light reflection as a dynamic
process directly at the quantum level. Usually, this is done through a
sequence of approximations. Starting from the macroscopic level, if
dielectric and conduction properties of the mirror are known, then
classical wave optics with these parameters inserted into Maxwell's
equations usually suffice to model reflection at the surface.



Quantum modeling of the light reflection should be very simple.
You just need to take into account that photons are quantum particles
described by wave functions. Then you should recognize that photons
are not allowed to go inside the mirror, and that the roughness of the
mirror surface is much less than the photon wavelength. Then the
description of deflection is given by solving the wave equation
with the boundary condition that the wave function beyond the mirror
surface is identically zero (or Schroedinger equation with the
step-like potential). This should give you the same answer as geometric
optics: the equality of incidence and reflection angles and the
correlation between polarizations of the incident and reflected beams.

Eugene.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Wang / Sagnac Devices
    ... so it's velocity in some frame is the sum of the velocity ... from a mirror at the same speed as it hits the mirror .. ... "The Reflection of Light from a Moving Mirror" ... ¦ / angle ß ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: Wang / Sagnac Devices
    ... so it's velocity in some frame is the sum of the ... from a mirror at the same speed as it hits the mirror .. ... "The Reflection of Light from a Moving Mirror" ... ¦ / angle ß ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: Wang / Sagnac Devices
    ... so it's velocity in some frame is the sum of the velocity of ... from a mirror at the same speed as it hits the mirror .. ... "The Reflection of Light from a Moving Mirror" ... ¦ / angle ß ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: Wang / Sagnac Devices
    ... so it's velocity in some frame is the sum of the velocity ... from a mirror at the same speed as it hits the mirror .. ... "The Reflection of Light from a Moving Mirror" ... ¦ / angle ß ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: Perfect mirror energy store, Questions
    ... to first order we expect no frequency shift. ... it wasn't described as a standing wave in the first place. ... And if we pull the mirror out like an ideal ... order, followed by the other half, on reflection from the remaining ...
    (sci.physics)
Quantcast