How does quantum electrodynamics actually explain HOW reflection occurs on a microscopic scale?
Note that Feynman's QED lecture series/book is not sufficient, as he only assumes that light DOES reflect ('turn around and go back') in order to expound his path integral theory. My question is why does light have the propensity to turn around in the first place.
Is it just the absorption and re-emission of photons, and if so, why does it happen so uniformly (i.e. on a shiny thing, entire scenes are reflected near-perfectly). In essence, why are flat things shiny? Are all the molecules arranged at exactly the same angle?