The course provides the tools to treat diffraction and propagation of coherent and partially coherent light fields. In particular, the problem of light propagation in paraxial conditions is addressed, which formally corresponds to the evolution of the wave function of a quantum particle in two dimensions. Techniques are also introduced to address the study of the non-deterministic fields. Some applications based on diffraction phenomena, such as diffractive optics and holography, for the unconventional manipulation of light fields are also presented.
teacher profile teaching materials
- Preliminaries on waves:
Electromagnetic waves
Energy transfer and Poynting’s vector
The scalar approximation
Interference, diffraction and propagation of light
- Paraxial Optics:
The paraxial wave equation
Paraxial plane waves and Talbot effect
Higher-order Gaussian beams
Intensity moments and their propagation
Propagation in quadratic-index media
- Optical coherence theory:
Statistics of speckle
Analytic signal and quasi-monochromatic fields
Temporal coherence
Spatial coherence and the cross-spectral density
Partially polarized light fields
- Some applications of diffraction:
Diffractive optical elements
Holography
- F. Gori, Elementi di Ottica, ed. Accademica
- Notes provided by the teacher
Programme
OPTICS- Preliminaries on waves:
Electromagnetic waves
Energy transfer and Poynting’s vector
The scalar approximation
Interference, diffraction and propagation of light
- Paraxial Optics:
The paraxial wave equation
Paraxial plane waves and Talbot effect
Higher-order Gaussian beams
Intensity moments and their propagation
Propagation in quadratic-index media
- Optical coherence theory:
Statistics of speckle
Analytic signal and quasi-monochromatic fields
Temporal coherence
Spatial coherence and the cross-spectral density
Partially polarized light fields
- Some applications of diffraction:
Diffractive optical elements
Holography
Core Documentation
- P. Mazzoldi, M. Nigro, C. Voci, “Elementi di Fisica – Elettromagnetismo e Onde”, II edizione, EdiSES (2008)- F. Gori, Elementi di Ottica, ed. Accademica
- Notes provided by the teacher
Type of delivery of the course
traditionalAttendance
optionalType of evaluation
oral exam