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Optical path (OP) is the trajectory that a light ray follows as it propagates through an optical medium. The geometrical optical-path length or simply geometrical path length ( GPD ) is the length of a segment in a given OP, i.e., the Euclidean distance integrated along a ray between any two points. [ 1 ]
An electromagnetic wave propagating along a path C has the phase shift over C as if it was propagating a path in a vacuum, length of which, is equal to the optical path length of C. Thus, if a wave is traveling through several different media, then the optical path length of each medium can be added to find the total optical path length. The ...
A slightly more rigorous definition of a light ray follows from Fermat's principle, which states that the path taken between two points by a ray of light is the path that can be traversed in the least time. [1] Geometrical optics is often simplified by making the paraxial approximation, or "small angle approximation".
This is more appropriate than the paraxial model in systems that lack symmetry about the optical axis. In computer modeling, parabasal rays are "real rays", that is rays that are treated without making the paraxial approximation. Parabasal rays about the optical axis are sometimes used to calculate first-order properties of optical systems. [15]
Optical computing or photonic computing uses light waves produced by lasers or incoherent sources for data processing, data storage or data communication for computing.For decades, photons have shown promise to enable a higher bandwidth than the electrons used in conventional computers (see optical fibers).
An adaptive optics system tries to correct these distortions, using a wavefront sensor which takes some of the astronomical light, a deformable mirror that lies in the optical path, and a computer that receives input from the detector. [12]
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Optical path, the path taken by light in traversing a system; Lightpath (optical network), a section of an optical network that light travels through without being modified; An internet and telephone service provided by Altice USA; Lightpaths, a 1997 novel by Howard V. Hendrix