Optics is the study of light, and its interaction with matter. It includes topics such as imaging systems, fiber optics, lasers, quantum optics, and more.
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Free Optics Simulation Programs
I'm having an extremely difficult time finding an optics program that is easy to use and offers accurate physics simulations. I'm not asking for much, I just want to be able to simulate a laser going ...
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1answer
110 views
Width of Gaussian Beam and Refractive Index
I know that in free space, the width of a Gaussian beam can be written as $W=W_0\sqrt{1+(\frac{z}{z_0})^{2}}$. However, I was wondering if it was possible to express this width as a function of ...
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1answer
155 views
Transmission of Gaussian Beam Through Graded-Index Slab
The $ABCD$ matrix of a glass graded-index slab with refractive index $n(y)=n_0(1-\frac{1}{2}\alpha^{2}y^{2})$ and length $d$ is $A=\cos(\alpha d)$, $B=\frac{1}{\alpha}\sin(\alpha d)$, $C=-\alpha ...
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2answers
165 views
Redirecting light beams from beam splitters
I'm doing a project where I am taking a laser beam and sending it through a beam splitter. As I understand, approximately 50% of the light will go pass through and 50% will be reflected. So this means ...
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1answer
461 views
Optical microscope magnification limits?
Optical microscopes are quoted as having a maximum magnification of 1500x to 2000x - what is this calculated from?
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1answer
180 views
Different colors in LED/LCD display when viewed from different angle?
I want to know why different colours appear when viewed with a different angle. Can anyone tell me why?
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61 views
Ultrashort Optical Pulses [closed]
If an ultrashort optical pulse has a complex wavefunction with central frequency corresponding to a certain wavelength and a Gaussian envelope of RMS width of a certain time period, how can I ...
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1answer
118 views
E and H fields created by fiber optics?
When an EM wave travels down a conductor, it creates and electric and magnetic field around (H) the wire and normal to (E) the wire.
My question is, when light travels down an optical material such ...
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1answer
140 views
Misaligned Mirror on Michelson Inferometer
If one of the outer mirrors on a Michelson interferometer was to be misaligned by a small angle of theta, what would be the shape of the interference pattern in the detector plane? What would happen ...
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1answer
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How to find focal length of a single convex lens?
I need help finding the focal length of a single convex lens. The radius of curvature is 200mm. left side is air and the glass has a index of 1.5. I search on google but there was only formulas for ...
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2answers
297 views
Why does your reflection stay the same size when you move further away from the mirror?
This was an experiment I saw in my son's workbook. It said to mark out the top of your forehead and the bottom of your chin on a mirror using a whiteboard marker. Then slowly move backwards, and ...
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2answers
292 views
How to make the projected image smaller by adding one ore more lenses in front of the built in projector lense?
I have a projector that creates a large image, even if the distance to the screen is short. The device is very small, approximateley 10x10 cm if you look from above. The height is only 3 cm.
I ...
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3answers
365 views
What are these rays that appear in photograph of sun?
In many images of light emitting objects we see such rays. Why do they appear ?
What is the math behind their number and direction?
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1answer
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Photonics: Slab As a Lens [closed]
The question can be found here: http://gyazo.com/fc4d26cd35e6ce368ad2a8ed504f1dcc
The refractive index it references can be found here: http://gyazo.com/94fd2f3b5ea7da9226c3acd56b0024c1
I'm not ...
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0answers
204 views
Intensity of the diffraction pattern of the double slit
I am trying another approach for my last unanswered question. (Bounty still on for 3 days. Anyone? Please?) Note that this is not the same question but a greatly simplified version concerning a much ...
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0answers
43 views
Observing through a 90 degrees positioned telescope on a flat surface
Assuming I'm standing in the middle of the ocean with a large telescope, positioned such that it's angle is 90 degrees (i.e, it's parallel to the sea) and assume that there are no light interferences ...
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0answers
94 views
Is there a simple model explaining Faraday effect?
I find magneto-optical effect fascinating, and especially Faraday effect. But most sources only give a phenomenological description, while I want a deeper explanation of its mechanism. Is there a ...
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1answer
198 views
Are silicone polymers transparent to infrared light?
I know that silicon and even black plastic bags are transparent to infrared light. What about light-colored silicone polymers (take white or green colors)? Are they transparent to infrared light too? ...
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3answers
250 views
Conservation of energy with Huygens-Fresnel principle
I am currently experimenting with Huygens-Fresnel principle. I am trying to simulate the propagation of a beam, emerging from an aperture slot of width w. I assume the slot to be long and therefore ...
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3answers
288 views
Why do rainbows have distinct colors?
When I searched on the Internet for the reason of formation of rainbows, I got many explanations like this one & this. All the explanations consider only one spherical water droplet (like this ...
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2answers
198 views
Is there a simple approximation to calculate the index of refraction of water?
A very rough approximation from first principles, from the elementary charge and hbar, would suffice. But is there such an approximation at all?
(Alternatively, if water is too difficult: is there ...
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3answers
494 views
Reflection of Electromagnetic Waves
Visible light - Being an Electromagnetic wave is reflected by glass (take mirror). Would all other waves in the electromagnetic spectrum be reflected in the same way by our simple mirror... For highly ...
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1answer
112 views
Why does heterodyne laser Doppler vibrometry require a modulating frequency shift?
On the wikipedia article (and other texts such as Optical Inspections of Microsystems) for laser Doppler vibrometry, it states that a modulating frequency must be added such that the detector can ...
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2answers
102 views
Filming light in motion?
Regarding this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_9vd4HWlVA, which claims to "film" light in its motion.
Is it not an absolute nonsense?
Even if photons could even be "seen" (meaning, returning ...
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0answers
120 views
Instrumentation how-to: Raman Spectroscopy on single molecules (TERS)
The last two decades have brought a tremendous progress in the high resolution visualisation of single molecules. The molecules reside on an atomically flat surface and the imaging technique used is ...
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2answers
262 views
Huygens-Fresnel principle
Huygens principle states that
1) Every point on a given wavefront may be considered as a source of secondary wavelets which spread out with the speed of light in that medium. 2) The new wavefront is ...
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How can I estimate the elasto-optic coefficients ($p_{11}$ and $p_{12}$) of a material?
I am attempting to estimate the elasto-optic coefficients ($p_{11}$ and $p_{12}$) of $\mathrm{TiO}_2$ and $\mathrm{ZrO}_2$, where $p_{11}$ and $p_{12}$ refer to the elements of a strain-optic tensor ...
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147 views
Dimensions of obstacle needed to block light?
How many dimensions are required minimum for an object to block light?
in 1d I doubt it's possible.
in 2d I think it could do it if only the light was limited to a dimension perpendicular to the ...
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1answer
89 views
Optical waveguide that can displace a 4D light field
Has anyone invented an optical waveguide that can "pipe" a scene from one place to another unaltered? More precisely, I want to displace (and/or rotate) a 4D light field.
An optical waveguide is an ...
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2answers
149 views
Does a fluid's temperature affect the way light passes through it?
For example, if I were to supercool water would it's refractive index still be 1.33 or would it be 1.31, the same as water-based ice even though it's still in liquid form?
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1answer
331 views
What are the properties of the partially polarized light on refraction?
When a ray of ordinary light is passed on the surface of the water the reflected light will be completely polarized( vibrations in one plane).
My question is what will be plane of vibration in the ...
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1answer
181 views
If light diverges, how can there be a virtual image?
I have seen this question:
Why can you see virtual images? but answers evade the question. Light needs to hit the retina in order, what is the meaning of "dashed" lines in most visualizations that ...
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3answers
118 views
Electrial Conductivity of Thin Metal Films
What is the best way to find specific/electric conductivity which is dependent of very thin film thickness?
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2answers
140 views
Reflectance of Titanium as Function of Thin Film Thickness
As far as I know, transmittance equals e^(-αx), where α is absorption coefficient and x is thin film thickness(100-300nm). My team and I have engineered a way to find absorption. Transmittance, T= ...
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3answers
190 views
Why does a photograph of a face look like it is always watching you?
Imagine a photo that is taken of someone looking straight at the camera.
Why when we look at the photo now from any direction it looks as if the person is looking straight at us?
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1answer
222 views
How does a holographic object change perspective when the image is rotated?
Fundamentally i want to know: How do holograms work?
The problem with that question is that normally you will end up with pages and pages talking about:
a laser
a beam splitter
a diffuser
the ...
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1answer
59 views
In electro-optic material, what is happening to the structure of the material for the index of refraction to change?
I apologize if electro-optic material is not the correct word.
As I understand it, when an electric field is applied to an electro-optic material, the index of refraction changes in proportion to the ...
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0answers
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A problem concerning the change of temperature and spectrum of a filament
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83373487@N04/7636968446/in/photostream
The spectrum of a filament is given before, the left one have the lowest tempreture, the middle has the medium and the right one ...
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1answer
691 views
How do Anamorphic images work? [closed]
I found the following anamorphic image on this site
Can anyone explain the physics behind the working of such images? Can we create our own anamorphic images? If so how?
Thanks in advance.
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2answers
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limits on a gauss box of light
Consider a wall defined by $w(x,y,z) = \Theta(x-L)$ which is nonzero in the infinite semi-space of $x \ge L$, as well as a coherent planar standing EM wave travelling in the $z$ plane given by its ...
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1answer
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How do photo mosaic work from eye and image processing perspective? [closed]
Hello fellow investigators
I have two question about optical illusions
1) A photo mosaic is something like this http://i.stack.imgur.com/Pzplp.png
What are the optical principles behind our eye ...
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2answers
258 views
Mean free path of UV photon
I was wondering if there's a simple way to compute the mean free path of UV photons in a optically thick medium with density n.
I've looked up at the literature ...
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2answers
200 views
Optical Drive Physics
I have been recently wondering how is data stored on and retrieved from optical devices like CDs, DVDs, and Bluray. What makes these different storage types different from each other?
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1answer
43 views
Does a FTS work on the same principle as a michelson (amplitude division) interferometer?
As far as I can tell within an Fourier Transform Spectrometer the spectral information is gained from changing the path length along one arm, this sounds very similar to a michelson interferometer but ...
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2answers
92 views
Liquid crystal polarizes light reflection question
I was hoping someone could help me with understanding why a row of polarizes reflects a light wave when the whole row is the same length as the wavelength of the light.
I pretty much get the ...
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1answer
195 views
Speed of light is not fixed?
In my research, I found that the speed of light is not fixed. IS it true?
Namely, We know that light refracts when the medium it travels through changes. Actually, light travels in the same medium ...
3
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3answers
335 views
formula for transparency of very thin film of metal
Is there formula that gives transparency of very thin film of given metal (tens of nanometers) to the visible light/light of given wavelength ? Which properties of metals are needed for the formula ?
...
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1answer
90 views
How to estimate number of Laue Spot
Why are "Laue Spots" spots instead of rings? Or is there an effective way to estimate the number of Laue spots? I can't find any formulas or theory concerning this issue. Thanks for your attention!
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1answer
132 views
Physics of Fireworks
This evening I saw the 4th July classic Fireworks in San Diego, and I was wondering about the most physical picture of what was happening. Does anyone have a good way to explain the detailed physical ...
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0answers
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Why are subjects upside down when I look through my door peephole?
There is a convex lens 3/4" on the outside and 1 1/2" convex lens on the inside.
Each lens has one flat side facing out and one convex side facing in.
What can be done to correct this image?
