Diffraction#
Scalar wave optics from Huygens through Airy: Huygens’ wavelet construction as diffractive spreading of a pinhole, Young’s double-slit interference fringes (including an animated sweep of the near-to-far-field wavefront propagation), Fresnel’s near-field diffraction theory and the Poisson/Arago spot, Maxwell’s electromagnetic waves (the speed of light from \(\mu_0\varepsilon_0\), and Fresnel reflection from a pulse solution of Maxwell’s equations), and Airy’s circular-aperture pattern and the diffraction limit it implies.
Huygens’ wavelets: diffractive spreading of a pinhole
Huygens' wavelets: diffractive spreading of a pinhole
