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In the 1718 edition of Opticks, Newton added several uncertain hypotheses about the nature of light, formulated as queries. In query (Qu.) 16, he wondered whether the way a quavering motion of a finger pressing against the bottom of the eye causes the sensation of circles of colour is similar to how light affects the retina, and whether the ...
Light exerts physical pressure on objects in its path, a phenomenon which can be deduced by Maxwell's equations, but can be more easily explained by the particle nature of light: photons strike and transfer their momentum. Light pressure is equal to the power of the light beam divided by c, the speed of light.
Quantum optics studies the nature and effects of light as quantized photons. The first major development leading to that understanding was the correct modeling of the blackbody radiation spectrum by Max Planck in 1899 under the hypothesis of light being emitted in discrete units of energy.
There are many phenomena that result from either the particle or the wave nature of light. Some are quite subtle and observable only by precise measurement using scientific instruments. Some are quite subtle and observable only by precise measurement using scientific instruments.
In the late 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton had advocated that light was corpuscular (particulate), but Christiaan Huygens took an opposing wave description. While Newton had favored a particle approach, he was the first to attempt to reconcile both wave and particle theories of light, and the only one in his time to consider both, thereby anticipating modern wave-particle duality.
Optics is a broad subject area. Much of the content is covered in subcategories. Many basic concepts are covered in Category:Geometrical optics, in which light is considered as if it were composed of rays. Articles dealing with the wave nature of light can be found in Category:Physical optics.
Both of these effects used the wave nature of light to create a correlation in arrival time – if a single photon beam is split into two beams, then the particle nature of light requires that each photon is only observed at a single detector, and so an anti-correlation was observed in 1977 by H. Jeff Kimble. [4]
The matter-composition of the medium through which the light travels determines the nature of the absorption and emission spectrum. These bands correspond to the allowed energy levels in the atoms. Dark bands in the absorption spectrum are due to the atoms in an intervening medium between source and observer.