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  2. Wave vector - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_vector

    In other words, the wave vector points in the normal direction to the surfaces of constant phase, also called wavefronts. In a lossless isotropic medium such as air, any gas, any liquid, amorphous solids (such as glass), and cubic crystals, the direction of the wavevector is the same as the direction of wave propagation. If the medium is ...

  3. Ray tracing (physics) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_tracing_(physics)

    Ray tracing of a beam of light passing through a medium with changing refractive index.The ray is advanced by a small amount, and then the direction is re-calculated. Ray tracing works by assuming that the particle or wave can be modeled as a large number of very narrow beams (), and that there exists some distance, possibly very small, over which such a ray is locally straight.

  4. Ray (optics) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_(optics)

    Rays and wavefronts. In optics, a ray is an idealized geometrical model of light or other electromagnetic radiation, obtained by choosing a curve that is perpendicular to the wavefronts of the actual light, and that points in the direction of energy flow.

  5. Wavefront - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavefront

    For a sinusoidal spherical wave, the wavefronts are spherical surfaces that expand with it. If the speed of propagation is different at different points of a wavefront, the shape and/or orientation of the wavefronts may change by refraction. In particular, lenses can change the shape of optical wavefronts from planar to spherical, or vice versa.

  6. Wave front set - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_front_set

    In Euclidean space, the wave front set of a distribution ƒ is defined as = {(,) ()}where () is the singular fibre of ƒ at x.The singular fibre is defined to be the complement of all directions such that the Fourier transform of f, localized at x, is sufficiently regular when restricted to an open cone containing .

  7. Huygens principle of double refraction - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huygens_principle_of...

    The two wavefronts come into contact at the points where they intersect with the optical axis. [1] Double refraction in uniaxial material. When unpolarized light incidents on the birefringent material, the o-ray and e-ray will generate new wavefronts. The new wavefront for the o-ray will be tangent to the spherical wavelets, while the new ...

  8. Physics of optical holography - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_of_Optical_Holography

    When the object wave is generated by light scattered from an object or a series of objects, a real image is formed on the opposite side of the hologram plate to where the object was located and is deflected from the normal axis by twice the angle between the reference wave and the normal direction. [2]: Section 1.2. Section 2.2

  9. Ripple tank - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripple_tank

    In physics, a ripple tank is a shallow glass tank of water used to demonstrate the basic properties of waves.It is a specialized form of a wave tank.The ripple tank is usually illuminated from above, so that the light shines through the water.