I just noticed this:
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Originally Posted by lyndonashmore
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Originally Posted by papageno
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Originally Posted by lyndonashmore
Now there is a certain resonant frequency and if the electron is forced into oscillation at this frequency (6Hz in your case) this oscillating electron causes all the other electrons in the plasma to oscillate and hence we get your standing wave.
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The oscillation does not start with one electron. |
Are you saying that a single photon collides with the whole plasma at once? ridiculous! |
A photon with a frequency of 6Hz has a wavelength of 50,000 kilometers. The collision in this case is indeed with many electrons at once.
There is a sharp change in the nature of the interaction at the plasma frequency. Below this, photons are able to excite plasma oscillations and become absorbed, with great efficiency. The plasma is opaque. Above this, and photons are not able to excite plasma oscillations, and the plasma is transparent.
The visible light photon, with a wavelength of 500 nanometers, does not collide with many electrons at once. The analysis of its interaction can be confined to a single electron. Its frequency is 600 TeraHz, and it does not transfer energy into the plasma, except by Compton scattering from a single electron with the consequent change in direction.
Lyndon disagrees with this, of course, but is unable to give a balanced quantified analysis of energy and momentum showing with numbers where the the momentum and energy goes in his alleged interactions.
Cheers -- Sylas
PS. Added in edit. No need to feel sorry for me at all. I cheerfully acknowledge that I am an airchair physicist. I make errors from time to time, and some subjects are well beyond my ability. I like having my errors pointed out, by anyone. No-one dies, or is even much inconvenienced; unless the errors are
not pointed out or addressed of course.
Lyndon is under no obligation to pay the slightest attention to my comments. I have no particular hope or expectation that he'll ever learn a thing from my pointing out his errors. I'll keep doing it, however. I've learned quite a bit about plasmas in these threads, and I suspect that there may be readers who are learning other aspects of physics by trying to follow along and see where the errors really are.