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The Interaction Between Light and Matter

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Abstract

What happens when light meets matter? There is always an interaction: light is scattered at a wall’s surface, reflected off a surface of water, partially absorbed and partially reflected by a green leaf, refracted when it enters glass, and excites chemical processes in retinal rods and cones, even at very low intensities. The details depend on the structure of the matter and on the wavelength of the light. Additional phenomena are refraction, diffraction, and fluorescence – even the miracle of transparency is fascinating. How is it possible that light passes almost completely unimpeded through a structure like the cornea or through water molecules? In this chapter, we discuss how light is affected by matter. In Chap. 7, we will discuss the special action of light on tissues.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    More precisely, the charged electron experiences an accelerating force in the light’s electric field.

  2. 2.

    Why never faster? This is difficult to understand intuitively but follows from Maxwell’s electrodynamic equations. The slowing down is the product of a consistent interplay between the electric and magnetic fields of the penetrating light, the vibrations of the electron cloud, and the light generated by these vibrations.

  3. 3.

    The surface normal is perpendicular to the surface.

  4. 4.

    Willebrord van Roijen Snell (1580–1626), Dutch astronomer and mathematician.

  5. 5.

    René Descartes, mentioned in Chap. 1.

  6. 6.

    The earliest known discoverer was Ibn Sahl (940–1000), Persian mathematician and physicist in Baghdad. In 984, he wrote a tract concerning magnifying mirrors and glasses.

  7. 7.

    From 700 to 400 nm, the refractive power of water increases by ∼4 %.

  8. 8.

    John W. Strutt, Baron Rayleigh, 1842–1919. English physicist. Nobel Prize 1904.

  9. 9.

    Gustav Mie, German physicist, 1868–1957.

  10. 10.

    John Tyndall, Irish physicist, 1820–1893.

  11. 11.

    In photography of the anterior chamber, the Scheimpflug principle is frequently applied. In 1907, by tipping the image plane, Theodor Scheimpflug (Austrian naval officer and photographer, 1865–1911) was able to achieve sharply focused images of planes that were not perpendicular to the direction of view.

  12. 12.

    Hans Goldmann (1899–1991). Swiss ophthalmologist. Famous for his applanation tonometer, contact lenses, ­perimeter, and contribution to the slit lamp.

  13. 13.

    Siméon D. Poisson, French mathematician (1781–1840).

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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Flammer, J., Mozaffarieh, M., Bebie, H. (2013). The Interaction Between Light and Matter. In: Basic Sciences in Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32261-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32261-7_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

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