...this is a soapbox of mine, so sorry in advance.
Photon is a quantum. They are very complex and quantum mechanics is a difficult field of study for a reason. It is also highly theoretical. Dr. Joshi was the first person to use that phrase, and I think that he immediately regretted it. I did take three quantum mechanics classes in college, but this is going to be simplified...
The statement was along the lines of IF you could produce the same quantum then the coral would not care where it came from. While probably true, it breaks down it many ways. First, quantum is infinite as far as we know and even a photon from the sun is likely never like one before it... kinda like a snowflake. There likely are no photons like another photon. Second, there are many, many quantum/photons at work. Even if a photon, say at 455nm was identical, then what about the missing ones at different spectrums or too many of one or the other?
Saying that photons are photons or that there are magic photons is a lazy argument. I might listen to somebody with a pHd in quantum mechanics, but otherwise we are all over our heads.
The only people that I see who use the "magic photons" phrase are either selling something, inexperienced or just passing along a narrative that they do not understand.
A bad equivalency is to say that since a molecule of gasoline ignites to the same energy in any combustion chamber that a Honda is the same as a Lamborghini since they both ignite gas.
IF one fixture could match another with spectrum, intensity, coverage, angles, etc., then I doubt that a coral will care. Since this does not exist, this false equivalency that a complex theoretical infinite particle from one light is the same as the other is just dumb (and lazy).
