From my limited understanding of physics, it seems like since a photon has 0 dimension, it should reflect off 0% of the surface of an object, because its cross section that collided with the surface is 0 units wide. That would mean an infinite number of photons would be required to capture the features of any object at all, which seems absurd and impossible.
In: Physics
A photon acts like a wave, a particle, and a probability distribution (like an electron), meaning that it is not 0 dimensions. A photon has just enough force behind it that when a lot of photons are working together, they can propel objects (look into solar sails). From my understanding, photons are 1-dimension, in that they are a single point (not sphere) that expresses itself as a wave. Think “How thick is a wave of sound?” It doesn’t have a thickness/volume, but it is present along its line.
If you look into String Theory, it’s main basis is that the universe is made of particles that aren’t 3-dimensional. It is a “string” like a rubber band on a 2-d plain. When that band is “twanged” or shaken, it vibrates into a 3-dimension shape (smaller than quarks, which are what protons/etc are made of). The frequency of the “twang” is what is responsible for different particles being observed/formed. (This is ONE theory of the universe. When following String Theory, there are 10 (+ ?) dimensions.)
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