Light in a Medium

Got a new batch of books from the library, mainly on lasers, photonics, fiber optics, and semiconductor fabrication.

Some topics I have been learning about are crystal growth, Snell's law, and Fresnel's law. I also did some reading on electromagnetic waves to solidify my understanding of them.

One thing I found very interesting, is how light travels through mediums. Essentially, the photon is absorbed by the medium, and the electron is bumped up to a higher energy state, and then drops back down again. This energy drop in the electron emits a photon, and the emitted direction is perpendicular to the acceleration of the electron. I am still not certain why photons are emitted in the forward direction, as opposed to the opposite direction.