Interaction with Photons: Optics

Abstract

The interaction between a solid and electromagnetic waves differs in many respects from the behaviour of the solid under the influence of static electric and magnetic fields. The optical phenomena of absorption, reflection, and dispersion of incident radiation appear in place of the transport of charge and energy. These processes can be described as the action of a high-frequency macroscopic field on the solid, or as the interaction between the elementary excitations of the solid and the quanta of the electromagnetic field—the photons.