Related papers: Simulating the Action Principle in Optics
Real Time Relativity is a computer program that lets students fly at relativistic speeds though a simulated world populated with planets, clocks, and buildings. The counterintuitive and spectacular optical effects of relativity are…
Formulating the equations of motion for cosmological bodies (such as galaxies) in an integral, rather than differential, form has several advantages. Using an integral the mathematical instability at early times is avoided and the boundary…
A popular pedagogical approach for introducing diffraction is to assume normal incidence of light on a single slit or a plane transmission grating. Interesting cases of diffraction from a grating at orientations other than normal incidence…
We give a rigorous solution of an optimisation problem of minimizing the expected delay caused by encountering a red traffic light on a road journey. The problem incorporates simple constraints on maximum speed, acceleration and braking…
The least action principle occupies a central part in contemporary physics. Yet, as far as classical field theory is concerned, it may not be as essential as generally thought. We show with three detailed examples of classical interacting…
In this work we examine refraction of light by computing full solutions to axion electrodynamics. We also allow for the possibility of an additional plasma component. We then specialise to wavelengths which are small compared to background…
Slow light propagation is an important phenomenon in quantum optics. Here, we theoretically study the properties of slow light in a simple optomechanical system considering an effect of non-rotating wave approximation (NRWA) that was…
We theoretically investigate the optical force exerted on an isotropic particle illuminated by a superposition of plane waves. We derive explicit analytical expressions for the exerted force up to quadrupolar polarizabilities. Based on…
An optical flow variational model is proposed for a sequence of images defined on a domain in $\mathbb{R}^2$. We introduce a regularization term given by the $L^1$ norm of a fractional differential operator. To solve the minimization…
If A and B are two points in the plane, with B lower and to the right of A, then we may consider the trajectory of an object travelling from A to B under the influence of gravity. The search for the trajectory minimising the time taken by…
We consider the geometric optics problem of finding a system of two reflectors that transform a spherical wavefront into a beam of parallel rays with prescribed intensity distribution. Using techniques from optimal transportation theory, it…
We study the temporal dynamics of light interacting with a one-dimensional lattice of cold atoms. In such a system, a photonic band gap opens up, yielding an efficient Bragg reflection for an incident field incoming with the right angle and…
The theory of the thin vapor layers linear optical properties is presented for the case of specular reflection of atoms colliding with the walls. The effects of light absorption and the shift in the resonance frequency are taken into…
In modern particle physics experiments wavelength-shifting and scintillating fibres based on plastic polymers are used for tracking and calorimetry. In this review the role of photon trapping efficiencies, transmission functions and signal…
The physics teaching particularly the optics teaching always have faced motivational problems, mostly due to the loss of the link between the social practice and the daily life of the student. Moreover, the laboratory practices have lost…
The Principle of Least Action has evolved and established itself as the most basic law of physics. This allows us to see how this fundamental law of nature determines the development of the system towards states with less action, i.e.,…
In this paper we are concerned with the simulation of crowds in built environments, where obstacles play a role in the dynamics and in the interactions among pedestrians. First of all, we review the state-of-the-art of the techniques for…
Wave optics is a prominent part of the undergraduate physics curriculum, and many undergraduate labs contain experiments on wave optics. In our 3rd-year undergraduate lab, we run numerical simulations alongside the experiments (and when…
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…
We have developed a computational method to describe the nonlinear light propagation of an intense and ultrashort pulse at oblique incidence on a flat surface. In the method, coupled equations of macroscopic light propagation and…