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Encyclopedia > Huygens' principle
Wave Refraction in the manner of Huygens.
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Wave Refraction in the manner of Huygens.

Huygens' principle (named for Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens) is a method of analysis applied to problems of wave propagation in the far field limit. It recognizes that each point of an advancing wave front is in fact the center of a fresh disturbance and the source of a new train of waves; and that the advancing wave as a whole may be regarded as the sum of all the secondary waves arising from points in the medium already traversed. This view of wave propagation helps better understand a variety of wave phenomena, such as diffraction. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x800, 81 KB) de: Blaue Linien - Ankommende Wellen Grüne Kreise - Elementarwellen, im dichteren Medium ist die Ausbreitungsgeschwindigkeit geringer. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x800, 81 KB) de: Blaue Linien - Ankommende Wellen Grüne Kreise - Elementarwellen, im dichteren Medium ist die Ausbreitungsgeschwindigkeit geringer. ... A physicist is a scientist trained in physics. ... Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens (pronounced in English (IPA): ; in Dutch: ) (April 14, 1629–July 8, 1695), was a Dutch mathematician and physicist; born in The Hague as the son of Constantijn Huygens. ... The concept wave is related to a disturbance that propagates through space, often transferring energy. ... In telecommunication, far-field diffraction pattern (Fraunhofer diffraction pattern) is the diffraction pattern of a source (such as an LED, ILD, or the output end of an optical fiber) observed at an infinite distance from the source. ... Diffraction is the bending and spreading of waves when they meet an obstruction. ...


For example, if two rooms are connected by an open doorway and a sound is produced in a remote corner of one of them, a person in the other room will hear the sound as if it originated at the doorway. As far as the second room is concerned, the vibrating air in the doorway is the source of the sound. The same is true of light passing the edge of an obstacle, but this is not as easily observed because of the short wavelength of visible light. A room is an enclosed space in a house or other building. ... The front door of a house is often decorated to appear inviting. ... A schematic representation of hearing. ... Prism splitting light Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible light) or, in a technical or scientific context, electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength. ... The wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a wave pattern. ...


Diffraction

The most common application of Huygens' principle is for the case of a Plane wave (usually light) incident on an aperture of arbitrary shape. In this case, Huygens' principle simply states that a large hole can be approximated with many small slits, each of which generates waves as a point source. A point source generates waves that emerge traveling spherically outward, like the waves caused by dropping stones in a pond. Consider the case of single slit diffraction, where we have one long slit through which we shine light onto a distant screen. We then try to approximate this long slit with an increasing number of short ones, in order to locate the diffraction minima. We know from the double-slit experiment that two slits interfere destructively when their path lengths differ by λ / 2. We can calculate using phasors or a similar technique that for three slits the first and last slit must differ by 2λ / 3, and so forth. We find the pattern to be that the waves traveling from the first and last slit must differ in their path lengths by (n − 1)λ / n. In the limit of approximating the single large slit with an infinite number of small slits, so that n goes to infinity, the path length difference between the left and right side of the slit must be exactly λ to get complete destructive interference and so a dark spot. In the physics of wave propagation (especially electromagnetic waves), a plane wave (also spelled planewave) is a constant-frequency wave whose wavefronts (surfaces of constant amplitude and phase) are infinite parallel planes normal to the propagation direction. ... In optics, an aperture is something which restricts the diameter of the light path through one plane in an optical system. ... Diffraction is the bending and spreading of waves when they meet an obstruction. ... The double-slit experiment consists of letting light diffract through two slits producing fringes on a screen. ... Interference of two circular waves - Wavelength (decreasing bottom to top) and Wave centers distance (increasing to the right). ... A phasor describes the phase of a particle in a simple harmonic motion or a wave motion. ...


Fourier transforms

The qualitative argument we used to glean some understanding of single slit diffraction using only Huygens' principle is difficult to apply in general to apertures of truly arbitrary shape. The wave that emerges from a point source has amplitude ψ at location r that is given by the solution of the wave equation for a point source. That's exactly what we mean by the Green's function for the wave equation, which is in spherical coordinates Diffraction is the bending and spreading of waves when they meet an obstruction. ... In optics, an aperture is something which restricts the diameter of the light path through one plane in an optical system. ... The wave equation is an important partial differential equation which generally describes all kinds of waves, such as sound waves, light waves and water waves. ... In mathematics, a Greens function is a type of function used to solve inhomogeneous differential equations subject to boundary conditions. ... This article describes some of the common coordinate systems that appear in elementary mathematics. ...

psi(r)propto frac{e^{ikr}}{r}.

Therefore, if we approximate the amplitude from an aperture as coming from many point sources, we should sum together an infinite number of point sources. But that just describes a surface integral. Thus, In mathematics, a surface integral is a definite integral taken over some surface that may be a curved set in space; it can be thought of as the double integral analog of the path integral. ...

Psi(r)propto int_mathrm{aperture}frac{e^{ikr}}{r}~da,

which is simply the spatial Fourier transform of the aperture. Huygens' principle when applied to an aperture simply says that the far-field diffraction pattern is the Fourier transform of the aperture. The Fourier transform, named after Joseph Fourier, is an integral transform that re-expresses a function in terms of sinusoidal basis functions, i. ... In telecommunication, far-field diffraction pattern (Fraunhofer diffraction pattern) is the diffraction pattern of a source (such as an LED, ILD, or the output end of an optical fiber) observed at an infinite distance from the source. ...


See also

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