Lecture

Introduction to Optics: Light and Waves

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In course

PHYS-317: Optics I

L'optique est un vieux domaine qui touche à beaucoup de sujets modernes, des techniques expérimentales aux applications courantes. Ce premier cours traite plusieurs aspects de base de l'optique: propagation, dispersion, interférence, diffraction, polarisat ...

Description

This lecture covers the fundamental concepts of optics, including geometric optics, wave optics, and electromagnetic optics. It explores topics such as refraction, reflection, interference, diffraction, polarization, dispersion, and the visible spectrum. The instructor explains the application of physical models in optics, the behavior of light in different media, and the principles governing optical systems. Key discussions include total internal reflection, mirror reflections, lens systems, and the formation of images by mirrors and lenses. The lecture also delves into optical aberrations, chromatic aberration, and the correction of optical systems using lenses. Various optical devices like prisms, mirrors, and lenses are analyzed in the context of optical systems.

Instructor

Benjamin Dwir

Academic title: Dr. Birth date: 24.10.1959 Nationality: Swiss At EPFL since: 1988

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Optics: Geometrical optics, Wave polarization

Related concepts (32)

Optics

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light. Because light is an electromagnetic wave, other forms of electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays, microwaves, and radio waves exhibit similar properties.

Optical aberration

In optics, aberration is a property of optical systems, such as lenses, that causes light to be spread out over some region of space rather than focused to a point. Aberrations cause the image formed by a lens to be blurred or distorted, with the nature of the distortion depending on the type of aberration. Aberration can be defined as a departure of the performance of an optical system from the predictions of paraxial optics.

Physical optics

In physics, physical optics, or wave optics, is the branch of optics that studies interference, diffraction, polarization, and other phenomena for which the ray approximation of geometric optics is not valid. This usage tends not to include effects such as quantum noise in optical communication, which is studied in the sub-branch of coherence theory. Physical optics is also the name of an approximation commonly used in optics, electrical engineering and applied physics.

Chromatic aberration

In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the wavelength of light. The refractive index of most transparent materials decreases with increasing wavelength. Since the focal length of a lens depends on the refractive index, this variation in refractive index affects focusing.

Reflection (physics)

Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves. The law of reflection says that for specular reflection (for example at a mirror) the angle at which the wave is incident on the surface equals the angle at which it is reflected. In acoustics, reflection causes echoes and is used in sonar. In geology, it is important in the study of seismic waves.

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