The angular aperture of a lens is the angular size of the lens aperture as seen from the focal point:
Contents
where
- is the focal length
- is the diameter of the aperture.
The angular aperture of a lens is the angular size of the lens aperture as seen from the focal point:
where
In a medium with an index of refraction close to 1, such as air, the angular aperture is approximately equal to twice the numerical aperture of the lens. [1]
Formally, the numerical aperture in air is:
In the paraxial approximation, with a small aperture, :
In classical mechanics, a harmonic oscillator is a system that, when displaced from its equilibrium position, experiences a restoring force F proportional to the displacement x:
In optics, the refractive index of a material is a dimensionless number that describes how fast light travels through the material. It is defined as
In mathematics, a spherical coordinate system is a coordinate system for three-dimensional space where the position of a point is specified by three numbers: the radial distance of that point from a fixed origin, its polar angle measured from a fixed zenith direction, and the azimuthal angle of its orthogonal projection on a reference plane that passes through the origin and is orthogonal to the zenith, measured from a fixed reference direction on that plane. It can be seen as the three-dimensional version of the polar coordinate system.
In electromagnetics, especially in optics, beam divergence is an angular measure of the increase in beam diameter or radius with distance from the optical aperture or antenna aperture from which the beam emerges. The term is relevant only in the "far field", away from any focus of the beam. Practically speaking, however, the far field can commence physically close to the radiating aperture, depending on aperture diameter and the operating wavelength.
In optics, a Gaussian beam is a beam of monochromatic electromagnetic radiation whose amplitude envelope in the transverse plane is given by a Gaussian function; this also implies a Gaussian intensity (irradiance) profile. This fundamental (or TEM00) transverse Gaussian mode describes the intended output of most (but not all) lasers, as such a beam can be focused into the most concentrated spot. When such a beam is refocused by a lens, the transverse phase dependence is altered; this results in a different Gaussian beam. The electric and magnetic field amplitude profiles along any such circular Gaussian beam (for a given wavelength and polarization) are determined by a single parameter: the so-called waist w0. At any position z relative to the waist (focus) along a beam having a specified w0, the field amplitudes and phases are thereby determined as detailed below.
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 emit light. By incorporating index of refraction in its definition, NA has the property that it is constant for a beam as it goes from one material to another, provided there is no refractive power at the interface. The exact definition of the term varies slightly between different areas of optics. Numerical aperture is commonly used in microscopy to describe the acceptance cone of an objective, and in fiber optics, in which it describes the range of angles within which light that is incident on the fiber will be transmitted along it.
In photography, angle of view (AOV) describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.
Angular resolution describes the ability of any image-forming device such as an optical or radio telescope, a microscope, a camera, or an eye, to distinguish small details of an object, thereby making it a major determinant of image resolution. It is used in optics applied to light waves, in antenna theory applied to radio waves, and in acoustics applied to sound waves. The closely related term spatial resolution refers to the precision of a measurement with respect to space, which is directly connected to angular resolution in imaging instruments. The Rayleigh criterion shows that the minimum angular spread that can be resolved by an image forming system is limited by diffraction to the ratio of the wavelength of the waves to the aperture width. For this reason, high resolution imaging systems such as astronomical telescopes, long distance telephoto camera lenses and radio telescopes have large apertures.
An optical telescope is a telescope that gathers and focuses light, mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, to create a magnified image for direct view, or to make a photograph, or to collect data through electronic image sensors.
In optics, the Airy disk and Airy pattern are descriptions of the best-focused spot of light that a perfect lens with a circular aperture can make, limited by the diffraction of light. The Airy disk is of importance in physics, optics, and astronomy.
Magnification is the process of enlarging the apparent size, not physical size, of something. This enlargement is quantified by a calculated number also called "magnification". When this number is less than one, it refers to a reduction in size, sometimes called minification or de-magnification.
In optics, the Fraunhofer diffraction equation is used to model the diffraction of waves when the diffraction pattern is viewed at a long distance from the diffracting object, and also when it is viewed at the focal plane of an imaging lens. In contrast, the diffraction pattern created near the object is given by the Fresnel diffraction equation.
Projectile motion is a form of motion experienced by an object or particle that is projected near the Earth's surface and moves along a curved path under the action of gravity only. This curved path was shown by Galileo to be a parabola, but may also be a line in the special case when it is thrown directly upwards. The study of such motions is called ballistics, and such a trajectory is a ballistic trajectory. The only force of significance that acts on the object is gravity, which acts downward, thus imparting to the object a downward acceleration. Because of the object's inertia, no external horizontal force is needed to maintain the horizontal velocity component of the object. Taking other forces into account, such as friction from aerodynamic drag or internal propulsion such as in a rocket, requires additional analysis. A ballistic missile is a missile only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight, and whose subsequent course is governed by the laws of classical mechanics.
Etendue or étendue is a property of light in an optical system, which characterizes how "spread out" the light is in area and angle. It corresponds to the beam parameter product (BPP) in Gaussian beam optics.
Optical resolution describes the ability of an imaging system to resolve detail in the object that is being imaged.
Instantaneous phase and frequency are important concepts in signal processing that occur in the context of the representation and analysis of time-varying functions. The instantaneous phase of a complex-valued function s(t), is the real-valued function:
The n-vector representation is a three-parameter non-singular representation well-suited for replacing latitude and longitude as horizontal position representation in mathematical calculations and computer algorithms.
In light microscopy, oil immersion is a technique used to increase the resolving power of a microscope. This is achieved by immersing both the objective lens and the specimen in a transparent oil of high refractive index, thereby increasing the numerical aperture of the objective lens.
Solution of triangles is the main trigonometric problem of finding the characteristics of a triangle, when some of these are known. The triangle can be located on a plane or on a sphere. Applications requiring triangle solutions include geodesy, astronomy, construction, and navigation.
Lightfieldmicroscopy (LFM) is a scanning-free 3-dimensional (3D) microscopic imaging method based on the theory of light field. This technique allows sub-second (~10 Hz) large volumetric imaging with ~1 μm spatial resolution in the condition of weak scattering and semi-transparence, which has never been achieved by other methods. Just as in traditional light field rendering, there are two steps for LFM imaging: light field capture and processing. In most setups, a microlens array is used to capture the light field. As for processing, it can be based on two kinds of representations of light propagation: the ray optics picture and the wave optics picture. The Stanford University Computer Graphics Laboratory published their first prototype LFM in 2006 and has been working on the cutting edge since then.
