  The Fresnel-Snell law, which is one of the fundamental laws in optics and
gives insights on the behaviour of light at interfaces, is violated if there
exists dissipation in the transmitting media. In order to overcome this
problem, we extend the angle of refraction from a real number to a complex
number. We use this complex-angle approach to analyse the behaviour of light at
interfaces between lossy media and lossless media. We reveal that dissipation
makes the wavenumber of the light exceed the maximum allowed at lossless
interfaces. This is surprising because, in general, dielectric loss only change
the intensity profiles of the light, so this excess wavenumber cannot be
produced in the bulk even if there exists dielectric loss. Additionally,
anomalous circular polarisation emerges with dissipation. The direction of the
anomalous circular polarisation is transverse, whereas without dissipation the
direction of circular polarisation has to be longitudinal. We also discuss how
the excess wavenumber can increase optical force and how the anomalous circular
polarisation can generate optical transverse torque. This novel state of light
produced by dissipation will pave the way for a new generation of optical
trapping and manipulation.
