system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How does light pass through a transparent object, slow down, then speed up again?

I know that light is both a particle and a wave, and that the refractive index of a material is pretty much a function of its density. How then, does light interact with these particles (slowing them down) and keep a coherent beam/image?
gpt
To address part of your question. Light doesn't slow down ever. The photons are absorbed and then retransmitted a moment later that gives the illusion of slowing down. While a photon is on the move it's traveling at c always.