Accelerating the charges in the material requires absorbing some energy from the light. Emission from the charges (the radiation field) requires depositing some energy back into the light. This is consistent with the photon absorption and re-emission model. Sure, it's not individual photons being absorbed by individual charges, but it's still an exchange of energy and the light is still quantized.
ImpatientProf t1_j8hzdda wrote
Reply to comment by boxdude in Light traveling through a medium that slows it. Does the same photon emerge? by TheGandPTurtle
Accelerating the charges in the material requires absorbing some energy from the light. Emission from the charges (the radiation field) requires depositing some energy back into the light. This is consistent with the photon absorption and re-emission model. Sure, it's not individual photons being absorbed by individual charges, but it's still an exchange of energy and the light is still quantized.