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  2. Numerical aperture - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_aperture

    As a pencil of light goes through a flat plane of glass, its half-angle changes to θ 2. Due to Snell's law, the numerical aperture remains the same: NA = n 1 sin θ 1 = n 2 sin θ 2. In optics, the numerical aperture (NA) of an optical system is a dimensionless number that characterizes the range of angles over which the system can accept or ...

  3. Uncertainty principle - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle

    where = is the reduced Planck constant.. The quintessentially quantum mechanical uncertainty principle comes in many forms other than position–momentum. The energy–time relationship is widely used to relate quantum state lifetime to measured energy widths but its formal derivation is fraught with confusing issues about the nature of time.

  4. Diffraction-limited system - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction-limited_system

    Memorial in Jena, Germany to Ernst Karl Abbe, who approximated the diffraction limit of a microscope as = ⁡, where d is the resolvable feature size, λ is the wavelength of light, n is the index of refraction of the medium being imaged in, and θ (depicted as α in the inscription) is the half-angle subtended by the optical objective lens (representing the numerical aperture).

  5. Snell's law - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell's_law

    Rejecting Descartes' solution, Pierre de Fermat arrived at the same solution based solely on his principle of least time. Descartes assumed the speed of light was infinite, yet in his derivation of Snell's law he also assumed the denser the medium, the greater the speed of light. Fermat supported the opposing assumptions, i.e., the speed of ...

  6. Optical resolution - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_resolution

    The ability of a lens to resolve detail is usually determined by the quality of the lens, but is ultimately limited by diffraction.Light coming from a point source in the object diffracts through the lens aperture such that it forms a diffraction pattern in the image, which has a central spot and surrounding bright rings, separated by dark nulls; this pattern is known as an Airy pattern, and ...

  7. f-number - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number

    The f-number N is given by: = where f is the focal length, and D is the diameter of the entrance pupil (effective aperture).It is customary to write f-numbers preceded by "f /", which forms a mathematical expression of the entrance pupil's diameter in terms of f and N. [1]

  8. 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.

  9. List of numerical analysis topics - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_numerical_analysis...

    Ross–Fahroo pseudospectral method — class of pseudospectral method including Chebyshev, Legendre and knotting; Ross–Fahroo lemma — condition to make discretization and duality operations commute; Ross' π lemma — there is fundamental time constant within which a control solution must be computed for controllability and stability