Timeline for Is this wave spatially coherent?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 21, 2015 at 11:00 | comment | added | scrx2 | Ok, it's a matter of definition, I'm used to think the intensity as the average over a period of the modulus squared of the field. This definition is based on experience: if you place a detector in your wave, it measures a constant signal, because no detector is able to see variations of "intensity" (in your definition) in the order of $10^{16}$ Hz. | |
| Dec 21, 2015 at 1:46 | comment | added | aquirdturtle | If you look at the instantaneous field (not time-averaged) of a plane wave, which is what I'm suggesting, the intensity is most certainly NOT constant, but varies just as the field varies with maxima at both the maxima and minima (negative maxima) of the field. So the only difference is the wavelength of the light, which is irrelevant for my question. | |
| Dec 20, 2015 at 13:29 | comment | added | scrx2 | No, the principle is different. Imagine for simplicity the red lines are straight. If you show intensity maxima you have basically some interference fringes. If you show the field, the intensity is constant. | |
| Dec 19, 2015 at 21:11 | comment | added | aquirdturtle | That should be essentially the same thing, no? | |
| Dec 18, 2015 at 15:18 | comment | added | scrx2 | just to double check, in the image the lines are intensity (as you say) or field maxima? | |
| Dec 17, 2015 at 22:37 | answer | added | scrx2 | timeline score: 3 | |
| Dec 14, 2015 at 12:19 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackPhysics/status/676375981305786368 | ||
| Dec 14, 2015 at 5:02 | answer | added | Mikhail | timeline score: -1 | |
| Dec 13, 2015 at 7:58 | history | asked | aquirdturtle | CC BY-SA 3.0 |