Geometrical optics

thumb|A ray of light being refracted in a plastic block In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomenon, but other waves such as sound waves and water waves also experience refraction. How much a wave is refracted is determined by the change in wave speed and the initial direction of wave propagation relative to the direction of change in speed.

change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated

formula deriving the angle of refraction of light between two mediums

measure of how strongly an optical system converges or diverges light

point where parallel light rays or light rays originating from a point will converge

model of optics describing light as geometric rays

physical phenomenon

distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in focus in an image

failure of a lens to focus all colors on the same point

departure of the performance of an optical system from the predictions of paraxial optics

principle of least time

thumb|Different apertures of a lens thumb|In biology, the pupil (appearing as a black hole) of the eye is its aperture and the iris is its diaphragm. In humans, the pupil can constrict to as small as 2 mm (8.3) and dilate to larger than 8 mm (2.1) in some individuals. thumb|A camera aperture thumb|Definitions of Aperture in the 1707 Glossographia Anglicana Nova thumb|Aperture icon

rendering algorithm that works by sending out many virtual rays of light

optical aberration

in geometrical optics: an idealized model of light; a line that is perpendicular to the wavefronts of the actual light, and that points in the direction of energy flow

line along which there is some degree of rotational symmetry in an optical system

angle of incidence for which all reflected light will be polarized

equations of light transmission and reflection

In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal representing sound or a video signal representing images, in an electronic device or communication channel.

aberration inherent to certain optical designs or due to imperfection in the lens

angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera

Image formed by optics or spherical mirrors,that diminished or magnified.

refractive error in optics

optic phenomenon due to light rays reflecting/refracting through curved surfaces/objects

small angle approximation in geometric optics

angle between a ray incident on a surface and the line perpendicular to the surface at the point of incidence

term

optical phenomenon arising from refraction of sunlight through ice crystals

deviation from rectilinear projection (optics)

type of an image formed by a mirror

projection of light energy

term in Gaussian optics

measure of wave reflectivity

optical aberration

blurry region in optics

Optical imaging rule

ray tracing technique

quantity describing conic sections

underwater phenomenon due to Snell's Law

non-linear partial differential equation encountered in problems of wave propagation

lens optics concept

coefficient describing the amplitude, intensity, or total power of a transmitted wave relative to an incident wave

path taken by light in traversing a system

concept in optical lens design

mathematical problem in geometrical optics

In geometric optics, stigmatism refers to the image-formation property of an optical system which focuses a single point source in one phase optics space into a single point in image space. Two such points are called a stigmatic pair of the optical system. Many optical systems, even those exhibiting optical aberrations, including astigmatism, have at least one stigmatic pair. Stigmatism is applicable only in the approximation provided by geometric optics. In reality, image formation is, at best diffraction-limited, and point-like images are not possible due to the wave nature of light.

relating to optical reflection

technique in geometric optics

quality of an image being out of focus

type of lens

condition that must be fulfilled by a lens or other optical system in order for it to produce sharp images of off-axis as well as on-axis objects

corrective lens used in Schmidt and Schmidt–Cassegrain telescopes

reciprocal of the distance between the point of focus and a reference plane

beam of electromagnetic radiation or charged particles

in signal transmission

State in optics