Related papers: Two variations on the periscope theorem
We consider the following problem: given two parallel and identically oriented bundles of light rays in n-dimensional Euclidean space and given a diffeomorphism between the rays of the former bundle and the rays of the latter one, is it…
A perfect focus telescope is one in which all rays parallel to the axis meet at a point and give equal magnification there. It is shown that these two conditions define the shapes of both primary and secondary mirrors. Apart from scale, the…
We study the formation of images in a reflective sphere in three configurations using caustics of the field of light rays. The optical wavefront emerging from a source point reaching a subject following passage through the optical system…
Within classical optics, one may add microscopic "roughness" to a macroscopically flat mirror so that parallel rays of a given angle are reflected at different outgoing angles. Taking the limit (as the roughness becomes increasingly…
Retroreflectors are optical devices that reverse the direction of incident beams of light. Here we present a collection of billiard type retroreflectors consisting of four objects; three of them are asymptotically perfect retroreflectors,…
We design freeform lenses refracting an arbitrarily given incident field into a given fixed direction. In the near field case, we study the existence of lenses refracting a given bright object into a predefined image. We also analyze the…
A light beam changes direction as it enters a liquid at an angle from another medium, such as air. Should the liquid contain molecules that lack mirror symmetry, then it has been predicted by Fresnel that the light beam will not only change…
A pseudoscopic (inverted depth) image made with spiral diffracting elements intermediated by a pinhole is explained by its symmetry properties. The whole process is made under common white light illumination and allows the projection of…
A complete description is given of two-mirror telescopes with a flat medial focal surface, on which the images of stars are circles of least confusion. Particular attention is paid to aplanats, since their field of view is noticeably larger…
Recent advances in twistor theory are applied to geometric optics in ${\Bbb{R}}^3$. The general formulae for reflection of a wavefront in a surface are derived and in three special cases explicit descriptions are provided: when the…
We introduce the concept of the inverse prism as the dual of the conventional prism and deduce from this duality an implementation of it based on temporal discontinuity and spatial dispersion provided by anisotropy. Moreover, we show that…
When a particle decays into two fragments, the wavefunctions of the latter are spherical shells with expanding radii. In spite of this spherical symmetry, the two particles can be detected only in opposite directions.
The Poincar\'e sphere is a graphical representation in a three-dimensional space for the polarization of light. Similarly, an optical element with spatially varying birefringence can be represented by a surface on a four-dimensional…
We experimentally address the wave-vector and polarization dependence of the internal conical refraction phenomenon by demonstrating that an input light beam of elliptical transverse profile refracts into two beams after passing along one…
When an oscillating line source is placed in front of a special mirror consisting of an array of flat uniformly spaced ferrite rods, half of the image disappeared at some frequency. We believe that this comes from the coupling to photonic…
The concept of turnaround surface in an accelerating universe is generalized to arbitrarily large deviations from spherical symmetry, to close the gap between the idealized theoretical literature and the real world observed by astronomers.…
We present explicit filtration/backprojection-type formulae for the inversion of the spherical (circular) mean transform with the centers lying on the boundary of some polyhedra (or polygons, in 2D). The formulae are derived using the…
A novel spin polarization separation of reflected light is observed, when a linearly polarized Gaussian beam impinges on an air-glass interface at Brewster angle. In the far-field zone, spins of photons are oppositely polarized in two…
Pseudoscopic (inverted depth) images that keep a continuous parallax were shown to be possible by use of a double diffraction process intermediated by a slit. One diffraction grating directing light to the slit acts as a wavelength encoder…
We consider the following geometric optics problem: Construct a system of two reflectors which transforms a spherical wavefront generated by a point source into a beam of parallel rays. This beam has a prescribed intensity distribution. We…