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thenewmans
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http://io9.com/5512705/why-are-scientists-trying-to-create-slow-light"
This article sounds wrong to me. Is it correct? Here’s a clip:
This article sounds wrong to me. Is it correct? Here’s a clip:
My recollection is that slow light has more to do with Condensed matter physics and the light does not get absorbed (or emitted). If it did, refractor telescopes would be blurry because of Comptin scattering. Instead, photons do spend most of the time traveling through glass at C but slow down near other particles. Am I close?In a non-vacuum, photons randomly run into atoms, which absorb the photon, then re-emit it. This absorption/re-emission cycle induces a delay, slowing down the light. In this respect, the slowing of light is an illusion. The photons still travel from atom to atom at c, but they make brief stops along the way.
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