by VictorBorun » Sat Dec 23, 2023 9:38 pm
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat Dec 23, 2023 9:16 pm
2) Well, sure the extra length isn't "statistically significant", but the path the reflected photon takes (ignoring particle/wave duality, etc) is certainly not
shorter than the path a "direct" photon takes!
And in reply to Chris, for photons being absorbed and reemitted (the "re-" being misleading since it's not the same photon), to complete the picture, we'd have to ask at what point does a photon
leave a star on it's way to us? From the instant its released as a byproduct of fusion in the core, it starts being absorbed and reemitted uncountably (1e9, 1e12, 1e15,...?) many times before it reaches us! And even once it leaves the photosphere, it still has to make it through the extensive corona.
A gamma photon from a nuclear fusion reaction in the core of a star would not stay ONE photon passing the radiation zone (if there is such zone) or heating up the convection zone (if there is such zone). One photon of one kind is absorbed and then multiple photons of much lower energy re-emitted; no way to point out one of them it say that it is the original photon reborn.
Elastic scattering of a photon is another tale.The photon may somewhat change the direction, energy, polarisation and phase, but all in predictable way. And, typically, it is still one photon.
For example, a reflection from a mirror will not change the plane in which the incoming path and the perpendicular to the surface of the mirror lie; it also preserves phase. If the mirror is moving to or from the observer, the reflection would cause a violet or red shift, but it could be taken in account and would not stop us from detecting an emission line and such.
All in all it stays to reason to trace that photon and talk about it as one photon, however dramatic its living path was.
[quote=johnnydeep post_id=335847 time=1703366187 user_id=132061]
2) Well, sure the extra length isn't "statistically significant", but the path the reflected photon takes (ignoring particle/wave duality, etc) is certainly not [i][b]shorter [/b][/i]than the path a "direct" photon takes!
And in reply to Chris, for photons being absorbed and reemitted (the "re-" being misleading since it's not the same photon), to complete the picture, we'd have to ask at what point does a photon [i]leave [/i]a star on it's way to us? From the instant its released as a byproduct of fusion in the core, it starts being absorbed and reemitted uncountably (1e9, 1e12, 1e15,...?) many times before it reaches us! And even once it leaves the photosphere, it still has to make it through the extensive corona.
[/quote]
A gamma photon from a nuclear fusion reaction in the core of a star would not stay ONE photon passing the radiation zone (if there is such zone) or heating up the convection zone (if there is such zone). One photon of one kind is absorbed and then multiple photons of much lower energy re-emitted; no way to point out one of them it say that it is the original photon reborn.
Elastic scattering of a photon is another tale.The photon may somewhat change the direction, energy, polarisation and phase, but all in predictable way. And, typically, it is still one photon.
For example, a reflection from a mirror will not change the plane in which the incoming path and the perpendicular to the surface of the mirror lie; it also preserves phase. If the mirror is moving to or from the observer, the reflection would cause a violet or red shift, but it could be taken in account and would not stop us from detecting an emission line and such.
All in all it stays to reason to trace that photon and talk about it as one photon, however dramatic its living path was.