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The method of image charges (also known as the method of images and method of mirror charges) is a basic problem-solving tool in electrostatics.The name originates from the replacement of certain elements in the original layout with fictitious charges, which replicates the boundary conditions of the problem (see Dirichlet boundary conditions or Neumann boundary conditions).
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.
Image distance in a spherical mirror + = () Subscripts 1 and 2 refer to initial and final optical media respectively. These ratios are sometimes also used, following simply from other definitions of refractive index, wave phase velocity, and the luminal speed equation:
The transfer-matrix method is a method used in optics and acoustics to analyze the propagation of electromagnetic or acoustic waves through a stratified medium; a stack of thin films. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] This is, for example, relevant for the design of anti-reflective coatings and dielectric mirrors .
They showed that the mirror reflection point can be computed by solving an eighth-degree equation in the most general case. If the camera (eye) is placed on the axis of the mirror, the degree of the equation reduces to six. [15] Alhazen's problem can also be extended to multiple refractions from a spherical ball.
In particular, spherical mirrors exhibit spherical aberration. Curved mirrors can form images with magnification greater than or less than one, and the image can be upright or inverted. An upright image formed by reflection in a mirror is always virtual, while an inverted image is real and can be projected onto a screen. [3]
Viewing the mirror from behind the knife edge shows a pattern on the mirror surface. If the mirror surface is part of a perfect sphere, the mirror appears evenly lighted across the entire surface. If the mirror is spherical but with defects such as bumps or depressions, the defects appear greatly magnified in height.
A spherical lens or mirror surface has a center of curvature located either along or decentered from the system local optical axis. The vertex of the lens surface is located on the local optical axis. The distance from the vertex to the center of curvature is the radius of curvature of the surface. [1] [unreliable source?] [2]