Search Results

The answer by Geoffrey provides a good explanation for mechanical torque, but the origin of photon spin is not mechanical. Photon torque has been measured, and there is no lever arm. See here and …

In Isaac Newton's own words, per Proposition XII on p. 78 of Opticks: or, A treatise of the reflexions, refractions, inflexions and colours of light. Also two treatises of the species and magnitude of …

This is a variation on a theme which has been discussed many times. For example, see Strength of moonlight The short answer is no; you cannot heat an object hotter than the temperature of the source. …

I've used SIMION, http://simion.com/; I was designing electron guns, and simply needed to vary some parameters with cylindrical symmetry. This was almost 15 years ago; it is a mature package. You c …

For typical laser goggles the color of lens is the color of light that is transmitted through the lens. Thus if the lens is red, it will not protect you from laser beams that are in the red portion o …

As a former sailor I can assure you that you can see the curvature of the earth from the crow's nest - all it takes is a calm sea. Consider a light house that stands 50 meters above sea level. If you …

Optical parametric down conversion; this can be accomplished with a variety of non-linear crystals, such as BBO. Efficiency depends upon matching of energy and momentum conditions with the proper dire …

Because the input beams are not centered on the collection optics the output beam isn't perfect. This can be improved with proprly designed aspheric lenses, or parbolic collection mirrors. … It's also possible to use fiber optics to combine multiple beams; a colleague did his PhD in this area. …

With graduated optics they use materials with graded index of refraction, which in theory can produce flat optical devices. … Here is an elementary introduction: https://optics.synopsys.com/learn/learn-intro-optics-design.html …

ImageJ contains all of the tools you will require, is widely used, and is free. You can even add your own processing modules to extend its capabilities. Usually the camera used will have to be taken …

Comparison of fabrication techniques for hollow retroreflectors describes, in great detail, the two obvious methods: The use of a precision solid prism corner cube as a mandrel to hold the glass pl …

Check an optics textbook like Fowles or Hecht, and look in their chapter on polarized light, and the references. …

Consider an atomic system with nucleus and bound electrons; as the atomic number increases, so does the number of electrons. The resulting electronic structure is quite complicated, but can be useful …

You can do the analysis with basic ray optics and the concept of image magnification. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnification#Magnification_as_a_number_.28optical_magnification.29 …

For the pin-hole camera the analysis is geometric ray optics; the ratio of the image distance to object distance is the same as the ratio of the image height to the object height, which is the definition …