Optics

:See also List of optical topics.

Classical optics

Before Max Planck suggested that light is quantized, optics consisted mainly of the application of electromagnetism and its high frequency approximations to light.

Related Topics:
Max Planck - High frequency approximation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Geometric optics, sometimes called ray optics is the branch of optics that describes light propagation in terms of rays.

Related Topics:
Light - Propagation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rays are bent at the interface between two dissimilar media, and may be curved in a medium in which the refractive index is a function of position.

Related Topics:
Interface - Medium - Refractive index

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The ray in geometric optics is perpendicular to the wavefront in wave optics. Note that such a description is a significant simplification of optics, and fails to account for many important optical effects such as diffraction and polarization. (This same approximation is generally called classical mechanics when applied to matter, but the term optics is also used to describe charged particle motion in magnetic and electrical fields.)

Related Topics:
Ray - Classical mechanics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An even more simplified version of ray optics is Gaussian optics, wherein all rays are assumed to be paraxial. In which case the mathematical behavior simplifies to be purely linear, and allows optical components and systems to be described by simple matrices.

Related Topics:
Gaussian optics - Paraxial

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Less extreme approximations include Physical Optics.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Topics related to classical optics

• Coherence
• Diffraction
• Dispersion
• Fabrication and testing (optical components)
• Fermat's principle
• Fourier optics
• Gradient index optics
• Optical lens design
• Polarization
• Ray
• reflection
• Refraction
• Scattering
• Wave
• Geometric optics of:
• Lenses
• Mirrors
• Optical instruments
• Prisms