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Gaussian beam width () as a function of the axial distance .: beam waist; : confocal parameter; : Rayleigh length; : total angular spread In optics and especially laser science, the Rayleigh length or Rayleigh range, , is the distance along the propagation direction of a beam from the waist to the place where the area of the cross section is doubled. [1]
The Gaussian function has a 1/e 2 diameter (2w as used in the text) about 1.7 times the FWHM.. At a position z along the beam (measured from the focus), the spot size parameter w is given by a hyperbolic relation: [1] = + (), where [1] = is called the Rayleigh range as further discussed below, and is the refractive index of the medium.
The complex beam parameter is usually used in ray transfer matrix analysis, which allows the calculation of the beam properties at any given point as it propagates through an optical system, if the ray matrix and the initial complex beam parameter is known.
Rayleigh distance in optics is the axial distance from a radiating aperture to a point at which the path difference between the axial ray and an edge ray is λ / 4. An approximation of the Rayleigh Distance is Z = D 2 2 λ {\displaystyle Z={\frac {D^{2}}{2\lambda }}} , in which Z is the Rayleigh distance, D is the aperture of radiation, λ the ...
A calculation using Airy discs as point spread function shows that at Dawes' limit there is a 5% dip between the two maxima, whereas at Rayleigh's criterion there is a 26.3% dip. [3] Modern image processing techniques including deconvolution of the point spread function allow resolution of binaries with even less angular separation.
In probability theory and statistics, the Rayleigh distribution is a continuous probability distribution for nonnegative-valued random variables. Up to rescaling, it coincides with the chi distribution with two degrees of freedom .
In fluid mechanics, the Rayleigh number (Ra, after Lord Rayleigh [1]) for a fluid is a dimensionless number associated with buoyancy-driven flow, also known as free (or natural) convection. [2] [3] [4] It characterises the fluid's flow regime: [5] a value in a certain lower range denotes laminar flow; a value in a higher range, turbulent flow.
Each optical element (surface, interface, mirror, or beam travel) is described by a 2 × 2 ray transfer matrix which operates on a vector describing an incoming light ray to calculate the outgoing ray. Multiplication of the successive matrices thus yields a concise ray transfer matrix describing the entire optical system.