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Huygens principle of double refraction, named after Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens, explains the phenomenon of double refraction observed in uniaxial anisotropic material such as calcite. When unpolarized light propagates in such materials (along a direction different from the optical axis ), it splits into two different rays, known as ...
Wave refraction in the manner of Huygens Wave diffraction in the manner of Huygens and Fresnel. The Huygens–Fresnel principle (named after Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens and French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel) states that every point on a wavefront is itself the source of spherical wavelets, and the secondary wavelets emanating from different points mutually interfere. [1]
The outstanding strength of Huygens's theory was his explanation of the birefringence (double refraction) of "Iceland crystal" (transparent calcite), on the assumption that the secondary waves are spherical for the ordinary refraction (which satisfies Snell's law) and spheroidal for the extraordinary refraction (which does not). [49]
In 1672, the problem of the strange refraction of the Iceland crystal created a puzzle regarding the physics of refraction that Huygens wanted to solve. [6] Huygens eventually was able to solve this problem by means of elliptical waves in 1677 and confirmed his theory by experiments mostly after critical reactions in 1679.
In his 1678 Traité de la Lumière, Christiaan Huygens showed how Snell's law of sines could be explained by, or derived from, the wave nature of light, using what we have come to call the Huygens–Fresnel principle. With the development of modern optical and electromagnetic theory, the ancient Snell's law was brought into a new stage.
Huygens had experimented in 1672 with double refraction (birefringence) in the Iceland spar (a calcite), a phenomenon discovered in 1669 by Rasmus Bartholin. At first, he could not elucidate what he found but was later able to explain it using his wavefront theory and concept of evolutes. [147] He also developed ideas on caustics. [6]
In 1678, Huygens discovered the polarization of light by double refraction in calcite. [ 93 ] [ 94 ] [ 95 ] Huygens' principle (concepts of the wavefront and wavelet) (1690)
Birefringence is responsible for the phenomenon of double refraction whereby a ray of light, ... Huygens principle of double refraction; Notes