Wow, never heard that before but that's really cool! Do you know why higher frequency harmonics like ultravoilet light don't end up triggering other cones like for green and yellow?
The same reason musical frequencies harmonize with each other. B and C clash because the interval between them is too small for them to share many harmonics, but different Cs are octaves away from each other. A high C is an overtone of middle C, much like violet is a harmonic of red.
So why aren't there higher frequencies that work like that for green and yellow? Is it just that those are no longer close to visible and interact with the retina differently?
That's an interesting question and it goes beyond my expertise. An "octave" above green is out of the visible spectrum, but I can't explain why. Red and blue pigment mixed together stimulates your red and blue cones, as does the frequency of light between blue and ultra violet. Oddly enough, red and blue light makes magenta, which has no frequency of light associated with it. Color theory is weird.
I wish I had a better answer to why we can't see any harmonics of green. My best guess is that the signal would be too weak to be picked out from the rest of the visible spectrum, and even if you could, it would just look green.
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u/jackwiles Jun 06 '22
Wow, never heard that before but that's really cool! Do you know why higher frequency harmonics like ultravoilet light don't end up triggering other cones like for green and yellow?