Jim Kelley wrote:
Certainly a far cry from the idea you tried to sell on this newsgroup
that interference patterns cause northbound vehicles to move in a
southbound direction and southbound vehicles to move in a northbound
direction.

There you go again, Jim, continuing to blame me for a
poor choice of words that, at your urging, I recanted more
than a year ago. I rewrote my energy article to remove any
reference to interference as the cause of anything. The
footnote says: "...since interference can occur with or
without wave cancellation, any reference to interference
as the cause of the redistribution of energy has been removed."

Exactly how long can you hold a grudge about a poor choice
of words that was corrected long ago at your urging? Would
you like for me to change it back so you can justify
continuation of your incessant compulsive bitching?

Or is it that you still don't understand the FSU web page?

micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/interference/waveinteractions/index.html

"... when two waves of equal amplitude and wavelength that
are 180-degrees ... out of phase with each other meet, they
are not actually annihilated, ... All of the photon energy
present in these waves must somehow be recovered or
redistributed in a new direction, according to the law of
energy conservation ... Instead, upon meeting, the photons
are redistributed to regions that permit constructive
interference, so the effect should be considered as a
redistribution of light waves and photon energy rather
than the spontaneous construction or destruction of light."

That redistribution of energy cannot happen without
interference. For the umteenth time, I apologize for ever
saying that interference causes the redistribution. If
you will mail me a Xerox of your posterior, I will kiss
it and send it back to you if that would help.

Here is how Hecht defines "interference" in "Optics":

"Briefly then, optical Interference corresponds to the
interaction of two or more lightwaves yielding a resultant
irradiance that deviates from the sum of the component
irradiances."

Sure sounds like interference corresponds to (rather than
causes) the redistribution of photon energy as described on
the FSU web page.
--
73, Cecil, IEEE, OOTC, http://www.w5dxp.com