|
Diffraction Formalism
Diffraction processes affecting waves are amenable to quantitative description and analysis. Such treatments are applied to a wave passing through one or more slits whose width is specified as a proportion of the wavelength. Numerical approximations may be used, including the Fresnel and Fraunhofer approximations. General diffraction Because diffraction is the result of addition of all waves (of given wavelength) along all unobstructed paths, the usual procedure is to consider the contribution of an infinitesimally small neighborhood around a certain path (this contribution is usually called a wavelet) and then integrate over all paths (= add all wavelets) from the source to the detector (or given point on a screen). Thus in order to determine the pattern produced by diffraction, the phase and the amplitude of each of the wavelets is calculated. That is, at each point in space we must determine the distance to each of the simple sources on the incoming wavefront. If the dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wave
In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (resting) value at some frequency. When the entire waveform moves in one direction, it is said to be a ''traveling wave''; by contrast, a pair of superimposed periodic waves traveling in opposite directions makes a ''standing wave''. In a standing wave, the amplitude of vibration has nulls at some positions where the wave amplitude appears smaller or even zero. Waves are often described by a ''wave equation'' (standing wave field of two opposite waves) or a one-way wave equation for single wave propagation in a defined direction. Two types of waves are most commonly studied in classical physics. In a '' mechanical wave'', stress and strain fields oscillate about a mechanical equilibrium. A mechanical wave is a local deformation (strain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complex Conjugate
In mathematics, the complex conjugate of a complex number is the number with an equal real part and an imaginary part equal in magnitude but opposite in sign. That is, (if a and b are real, then) the complex conjugate of a + bi is equal to a - bi. The complex conjugate of z is often denoted as \overline or z^*. In polar form, the conjugate of r e^ is r e^. This can be shown using Euler's formula. The product of a complex number and its conjugate is a real number: a^2 + b^2 (or r^2 in polar coordinates). If a root of a univariate polynomial with real coefficients is complex, then its complex conjugate is also a root. Notation The complex conjugate of a complex number z is written as \overline z or z^*. The first notation, a vinculum, avoids confusion with the notation for the conjugate transpose of a matrix, which can be thought of as a generalization of the complex conjugate. The second is preferred in physics, where dagger (†) is used for the conjugate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
N-slit Interferometer
The ''N''-slit interferometer is an extension of the double-slit experiment, double-slit interferometer also known as Young's double-slit interferometer. One of the first known uses of ''N''-slit arrays in optics was illustrated by Isaac Newton, Newton. In the first part of the twentieth century, Albert Abraham Michelson, Michelson described various cases of ''N''-slit diffraction. Richard Feynman, Feynman described thought experiments the explored two-slit quantum interference of electrons, using Braket notation, Dirac's notation. This approach was extended to ''N''-slit interferometers, by F. J. Duarte, Duarte and colleagues in 1989,F. J. Duarte and D. J. Paine, Quantum mechanical description of ''N''-slit interference phenomena, in ''Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '88'', R. C. Sze and F. J. Duarte (Eds.) (STS, McLean, Va, 1989) pp. 42–47. using narrow-linewidth laser illumination, that is, illumination by indistinguishable photons. The first application ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fourier Analysis
In mathematics, Fourier analysis () is the study of the way general functions may be represented or approximated by sums of simpler trigonometric functions. Fourier analysis grew from the study of Fourier series, and is named after Joseph Fourier, who showed that representing a function as a sum of trigonometric functions greatly simplifies the study of heat transfer. The subject of Fourier analysis encompasses a vast spectrum of mathematics. In the sciences and engineering, the process of decomposing a function into oscillatory components is often called Fourier analysis, while the operation of rebuilding the function from these pieces is known as Fourier synthesis. For example, determining what component frequencies are present in a musical note would involve computing the Fourier transform of a sampled musical note. One could then re-synthesize the same sound by including the frequency components as revealed in the Fourier analysis. In mathematics, the term ''Fourier an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Envelope (waves)
In physics and engineering, the envelope of an oscillating signal is a smooth curve outlining its extremes. The envelope thus generalizes the concept of a constant amplitude into an instantaneous amplitude. The figure illustrates a modulated sine wave varying between an ''upper envelope'' and a ''lower envelope''. The envelope function may be a function of time, space, angle, or indeed of any variable. In beating waves A common situation resulting in an envelope function in both space ''x'' and time ''t'' is the superposition of two waves of almost the same wavelength and frequency: : \begin F(x, \ t) & = \sin \left 2 \pi \left( \frac - ( f + \Delta f )t \right) \right+ \sin \left 2 \pi \left( \frac - ( f - \Delta f )t \right) \right\\ pt& \approx 2\cos \left 2 \pi \left( \frac - \Delta f \ t \right) \right\ \sin \left 2 \pi \left( \frac - f \ t \right) \right\end which uses the trigonometric formula for the addition of two sine waves, and the approximation&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diffraction Grating
In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical component with a periodic structure that diffracts light into several beams travelling in different directions (i.e., different diffraction angles). The emerging coloration is a form of structural coloration. The directions or diffraction angles of these beams depend on the wave (light) incident angle to the diffraction grating, the spacing or distance between adjacent diffracting elements (e.g., parallel slits for a transmission grating) on the grating, and the wavelength of the incident light. The grating acts as a dispersive element. Because of this, diffraction gratings are commonly used in monochromators and spectrometers, but other applications are also possible such as optical encoders for high precision motion control and wavefront measurement. For typical applications, a reflective grating has ridges or ''rulings'' on its surface while a transmissive grating has transmissive or hollow slits on its surface. Such a grati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fourier Transform
A Fourier transform (FT) is a mathematical transform that decomposes functions into frequency components, which are represented by the output of the transform as a function of frequency. Most commonly functions of time or space are transformed, which will output a function depending on temporal frequency or spatial frequency respectively. That process is also called ''analysis''. An example application would be decomposing the waveform of a musical chord into terms of the intensity of its constituent pitches. The term ''Fourier transform'' refers to both the frequency domain representation and the mathematical operation that associates the frequency domain representation to a function of space or time. The Fourier transform of a function is a complex-valued function representing the complex sinusoids that comprise the original function. For each frequency, the magnitude ( absolute value) of the complex value represents the amplitude of a constituent complex sinusoid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinc Function
In mathematics, physics and engineering, the sinc function, denoted by , has two forms, normalized and unnormalized.. In mathematics, the historical unnormalized sinc function is defined for by \operatornamex = \frac. Alternatively, the unnormalized sinc function is often called the sampling function, indicated as Sa(''x''). In digital signal processing and information theory, the normalized sinc function is commonly defined for by \operatornamex = \frac. In either case, the value at is defined to be the limiting value \operatorname0 := \lim_\frac = 1 for all real . The normalization causes the definite integral of the function over the real numbers to equal 1 (whereas the same integral of the unnormalized sinc function has a value of ). As a further useful property, the zeros of the normalized sinc function are the nonzero integer values of . The normalized sinc function is the Fourier transform of the rectangular function with no scaling. It is used in the concep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euler's Formula
Euler's formula, named after Leonhard Euler, is a mathematical formula in complex analysis that establishes the fundamental relationship between the trigonometric functions and the complex exponential function. Euler's formula states that for any real number : e^ = \cos x + i\sin x, where is the base of the natural logarithm, is the imaginary unit, and and are the trigonometric functions cosine and sine respectively. This complex exponential function is sometimes denoted ("cosine plus i sine"). The formula is still valid if is a complex number, and so some authors refer to the more general complex version as Euler's formula. Euler's formula is ubiquitous in mathematics, physics, and engineering. The physicist Richard Feynman called the equation "our jewel" and "the most remarkable formula in mathematics". When , Euler's formula may be rewritten as , which is known as Euler's identity. History In 1714, the English mathematician Roger Cotes presented a geometr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binomial Expansion
In elementary algebra, the binomial theorem (or binomial expansion) describes the algebraic expansion of powers of a binomial. According to the theorem, it is possible to expand the polynomial into a sum involving terms of the form , where the exponents and are nonnegative integers with , and the coefficient of each term is a specific positive integer depending on and . For example, for , (x+y)^4 = x^4 + 4 x^3y + 6 x^2 y^2 + 4 x y^3 + y^4. The coefficient in the term of is known as the binomial coefficient \tbinom or \tbinom (the two have the same value). These coefficients for varying and can be arranged to form Pascal's triangle. These numbers also occur in combinatorics, where \tbinom gives the number of different combinations of elements that can be chosen from an -element set. Therefore \tbinom is often pronounced as " choose ". History Special cases of the binomial theorem were known since at least the 4th century BC when Greek mathematician Euclid mentioned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.png "Click for more on -> Fourier Analysis")
