New answers tagged refraction
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Diffraction when the wavefront is not parallel to the plane
So even if your wave fronts are "parallel" to the plane, if they have a phase that varies over one dimension of the plane, they are in effect incoming or outgoing at an angle. So this is ...
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Diffraction when the wavefront is not parallel to the plane
This is how you derive Snell's law: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/3-024-electronic-optical-and-magnetic-properties-of-materials-spring-2013/480e12b984eb21a5e88b8ee5cc051ef8_MIT3_024S13_2012lec22.pdf
...
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Most generic form of refractive index tensors
Symmetry: In non-magnetic media, the real part of the refractive index tensor is typically symmetric due to energy conservation principles. This symmetry is related to the reciprocity theorem in ...
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Does time pass slowly in water?
Yes, according to Gries theory of observable light in a non-vacuum medium time inherently runs slower. However to the observer it remains constant thanks to relativity
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Huygens' principle and the laws of reflection/refraction
The points shown as yellow blobs on your diagram are in phase, even though they are not on the same wavefront. The hemispheres drawn in the lower medium do seem like Huygens secondary wavelets. But ...
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Accepted
Huygens' principle and the laws of reflection/refraction
The construction you link to shows the same wavefront at multiple points in time, not a snapshot of a light wave at one point in time. The yellow dots constituting the point sources at the interface ...
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At which wavelengths do photons behave like X-ray?
The reason that x-ray frequencies are so high (wavelengths are so short) is because the energy level transitions that give rise to them in solids are of order ~1 kiloelectron volt to ~20 keV. Note ...
- 95.5k
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What's at the end of a rainbow?
Maybe this is the video you’re talking about?
https://share.icloud.com/photos/06d7pJiSeVPvHFyx0hMDxY1Uw
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What does the optical Hamiltonian mean?
OP's square root Hamiltonian taken from Ref. 1 can more systematically be derived as follows:
We start by identifying the optical length with a square root action$^1$
$$\begin{align}S_0[{\bf r}]~=~&...
- 207k
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What does the optical Hamiltonian mean?
You can view it as $H = p_3$, the momentum component in the third direction. It is analogous to relativity where you view energy as the time comment of 4-momentum. Similarly, the components are not ...
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