All Questions
Tagged with terminology optics
68
questions
0
votes
0
answers
39
views
Absorption and emission spectrum terminology
Hi everyone recently i was looking for laser crystals and since I am an autodidact i was confused by the terminology and units of the optics domain. And specialy by the absorption and emission ...
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is there a name for the number of '9's in numbers such as 0.999 (where it would be 3)?
I am doing an optics simulation involving transmission and reflection coefficients very close to 1, such as 0.999. While I was an undergraduate student, a professor mentioned that, in certain fields, ...
5
votes
3
answers
631
views
Is Principle of Least Action a first principle? [closed]
It is on the basis of Principle of Least Action, that Lagrangian mechanics is built upon, and is responsible for light travelling in a straight line.
Is its the classical equivalent of Schrodinger's ...
3
votes
0
answers
45
views
What is a stochastic electromagnetic wave?
In statistical optics we always talking about stochastic electromagnetic wave but I am not able to understand how this wave is different from electromagnetic wave
1
vote
0
answers
34
views
Is there a proper name for "optical image transitivity"?
I've scoured Wikipedia for any evidence that the following statement:
[paraphrasing] ... all images formed by one device can serve as the object for a second device ...
Has its own proper name. Has ...
-1
votes
1
answer
75
views
What do we actually mean when we say "light"?
light is an electromagnetic wave , but can we say all EM wave are light?
eg. infrared radiation , uv radiation ... can we say these as light?
0
votes
3
answers
119
views
Is lens a type of mirror?
I saw the definition of 'lens' in an online portal as
Lens is a type of mirror which refracts the light instead of reflection
Is that true to say 'type of mirror'? Mirrors have an opaque surface in ...
0
votes
1
answer
52
views
Nomenclature for stationary states in the context of wave equations
Consider the Schrodinger equation $i\partial_t u=-\Delta u.$ Special solutions of the form $$u(t,x)=u_k(x)e^{ikt}$$ have many names which I've seen used, such as stationary states, solitons, standing ...
0
votes
1
answer
180
views
What does quadrature mean in the context of sine waves and resonance?
I heard a professor talk about quadrature in a sine wave representing resonance in time. What is the quadrature of the wave, and what does it mean for a quadrature to shift?
To be more specific, a ...
1
vote
4
answers
666
views
Can two waves be considered in phase if the phase angle is a multiple of 2$\pi$?
Question is essentially what the title states. Wavefront is defined as the locus of points that are in phase. So I wanted to know if the locus would be the points of only a single circle or multiple ...
1
vote
1
answer
48
views
What is the technology that uses a rectangular mask to do high focus imaging?
There is a newly developed technology that involves using a specialized mask to resolve images without the use of a lens. The technology potentially allows the imaging system to avoid limitations ...
0
votes
1
answer
275
views
What is the difference between photobleaching and photoinduced transparency?
In experiments on pump-probe spectroscopy, when the pump and probe pulses are close in frequency, there is a common situation when probe pulse absorption decreases (and transmission increases) after ...
1
vote
1
answer
123
views
What's the difference between "optical amplification" and "magnifying"?
Optical amplification used widely in astronomical observatories and "magnifying" used in microscopes.
What's the difference between "optical amplification" and "magnifying&...
1
vote
1
answer
56
views
Technical name (radiometric/photometric/ray-optic) of the physical field that is measured with a camera
A camera (that is FPA and objective) is a device that measures [intensity][1] or radiant intensity vs. two angles (horizontal & vertical). So it generates a representation of the physical quantity
...
1
vote
3
answers
159
views
Microscopic origin of non-linear optical effect
I know that a non linear optical medium is a medium in which the optical response for example polarisation vector varies as
\begin{equation}
\vec{P}=\epsilon_0\chi^{(1)}\vec{E}+\epsilon_0\chi^{(2)}\...