This invaluable book presents most of the important papers of Emil Wolf, published over half-a-century. It covers chiefly diffraction theory (especially the analysis of the focal region), the theory of direct and inverse scattering, phase-space methods in quantum mechanics, the foundation of radiometry, phase conjugation and coherence theory. Several papers which have become classics of the optical literature are included, such as those on Wolf's rigorous formulation of the theory of partial coherence and partial polarization, the introduction of diffraction tomography, and his discovery of correlation-induced shifts of spectral lines (often called the Wolf effect). There are also papers dealing with the historical development of optics and some review articles.
Wolf's contributions to optical physics go far beyond his co-writing, with Max Born, the classic Principles of Optics. He introduced spatial coherence, he was the first to describe Gabor's holography, and his work has served as the foundation of about 250 companies and corporate divisions in the English-speaking world. In these 23 essays, two of which are tributes to the life of Wolf, contributors consider aspects of his work such as the polarization of light, the electromagnetic theory of optical coherence, wave descriptions of optical measurements, holographic microscopy, optical physics and psychology, the Wolf effect and the Wolf shift, optical pathlength spectroscopy, the diffractive multifocal focusing effect, phase and information, holography, internal reflection tomography, and nano- optics. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).
All optical fields undergo random fluctuations. They may be small, as in the output of many lasers, or they may be appreciably larger, as in light generated by thermal sources. The underlying theory of fluctuating optical fields is known as coherence theory. An important manifestation of the fluctuations is the phenomenon of partial polarization. Actually, coherence theory deals with considerably more than fluctuations. Unlike usual treatments, it describes optical fields in terms of observable quantities and elucidates how such quantities, for example, the spectrum of light, change as light propagates. This book is the first to provide a unified treatment of the phenomena of coherence and polarization. The unification has been made possible by very recent discoveries, largely due to the author of this book. The subjects treated in this volume are of considerable importance for graduate students and for research workers in physics and in engineering, who are concerned with optical communications, with propagation of laser beams through fibers and through the turbulent atmosphere, with optical image formation, particularly in microscopes, and with medical diagnostics, for example. Each chapter contains problems to aid self-study. Book jacket.
Principles of Optics is one of the classic science books of the twentieth century, and probably the most influential book in optics published in the past 40 years. The new edition is the first ever thoroughly revised and expanded edition of this standard text. Among the new material, much of which is not available in any other optics text, is a section on the CAT scan (computerized axial tomography), which has revolutionized medical diagnostics. The book also includes a new chapter on scattering from inhomogeneous media which provides a comprehensive treatment of the theory of scattering of scalar as well as of electromagnetic waves, including the Born series and the Rytov series. The chapter also presents an account of the principles of diffraction tomography - a refinement of the CAT scan - to which Emil Wolf, one of the authors, has made a basic contribution by formulating in 1969 what is generally regarded to be the basic theorem in this field. The chapter also includes an account of scattering from periodic potentials and its connection to the classic subject of determining the structure of crystals from X-ray diffraction experiments, including accounts of von Laue equations, Bragg's law, the Ewald sphere of reflection and the Ewald limiting sphere, both generalized to continuous media. These topics, although originally introduced in connection with the theory of X-ray diffraction by crystals, have since become of considerable relevance to optics, for example in connection with deep holograms. Other new topics covered in this new edition include interference with broad-band light, which introduces the reader to an important phenomenon discovered relatively recently by Emil Wolf, namely the generation of shifts of spectral lines and other modifications of spectra of radiated fields due to the state of coherence of a source. There is also a section on the so-called Rayleigh-Sommerfield diffraction theory which, in recent times, has been finding increasing popularity among optical scientists. There are also several new appendices, including one on energy conservation in scalar wavefields, which is seldom discussed in books on optics. The new edition of this standard reference will continue to be invaluable to advanced undergraduates, graduate students and researchers working in most areas of optics.
Principles of Optics: Electromagnetic Theory of Propagation, Interference and Diffraction of Light, Sixth Edition covers optical phenomenon that can be treated with Maxwell’s phenomenological theory. The book is comprised of 14 chapters that discuss various topics about optics, such as geometrical theories, image forming instruments, and optics of metals and crystals. The text covers the elements of the theories of interference, interferometers, and diffraction. The book tackles several behaviors of light, including its diffraction when exposed to ultrasonic waves. The selection will be most useful to researchers whose work involves understanding the behavior of light.
This book presents a systematic account of optical coherence theory within the framework of classical optics, as applied to such topics as radiation from sources of different states of coherence, foundations of radiometry, effects of source coherence on the spectra of radiated fields, coherence theory of laser modes, and scattering of partially coherent light by random media.
Wolf's contributions to optical physics go far beyond his co-writing, with Max Born, the classic Principles of Optics. He introduced spatial coherence, he was the first to describe Gabor's holography, and his work has served as the foundation of about 250 companies and corporate divisions in the English-speaking world. In these 23 essays, two of which are tributes to the life of Wolf, contributors consider aspects of his work such as the polarization of light, the electromagnetic theory of optical coherence, wave descriptions of optical measurements, holographic microscopy, optical physics and psychology, the Wolf effect and the Wolf shift, optical pathlength spectroscopy, the diffractive multifocal focusing effect, phase and information, holography, internal reflection tomography, and nano- optics. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).
In the thirty-seven years that have gone by since the first volume of Progress in Optics was published, optics has become one of the most dynamic fields of science. At the time of inception of this series, the first lasers were only just becoming operational, holography was in its infancy, subjects such as fiber optics, integrated optics and optoelectronics did not exist and quantum optics was the domain of only a few physicists. The term photonics had not yet been coined. Today these fields are flourishing and have become areas of specialisation for many science and engineering students and n.
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