what exactly is it that determines the probability of an energy transition such as an electron emitting or absorbing a photon (besides densities and occupancies of states and incident photons, etc.)-- and how does refractive index affect this (it has to because the Planck function is proportional to n ^ 2 — has to be in order to satisfy 2nd law of thermo...)-- and does it make sense to use an k, E diagram when electrons are not actually propagating as
plane waves — I mean, what is the wavevector when the waveform is not a
plane wave; is k a function of
space in atomic
orbitals?