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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 ...
The principal ray or chief ray (sometimes known as the b ray) in an optical system is the meridional ray that starts at an edge of an object and passes through the center of the aperture stop. [5] [8] [7] The distance between the chief ray (or an extension of it for a virtual image) and the optical axis at an image location defines the size of ...
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".
Optical path length (OPL) is the product of the geometric length d of the path light follows through a system, and the index of refraction of the medium through which it propagates, [40] =. This is an important concept in optics because it determines the phase of the light and governs interference and diffraction of light as it propagates.
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
The optical path length from the light source is used to compute the phase. The derivative of the position of the ray in the focal region on the source position is used to obtain the width of the ray, and from that the amplitude of the plane wave. The result is the point spread function, whose Fourier transform is the optical transfer function.
Optical path length, the product of the distance light travels and the refractive index of the medium it travels through Mean free path , the average distance that a particle travels before scattering