Related papers: Caustics of wave fronts reflected by a surface
Reflection at an interface separating two different media is a rather universal phenomenon which arises because of wave mismatching at the interface. By means of supersymmetric quantum mechanics methods, it is shown that a fully transparent…
We deduce the emissivity of radiation from a metallic surface as a function of angle and polarization. This effect has found application in the calibration of detectors for cosmic microwave background radiation.
The surface of metal, glass and plastic objects is often characterized by microscopic scratches caused by manufacturing and/or wear. A closer look onto such scratches reveals iridescent colors with a complex dependency on viewing and…
We review the complex differential geometry of the space of oriented affine lines in ${\Bbb{R}}^3$ and give a description of Hamilton's characteristic functions for reflection in an oriented C$^1$ surface in terms of this geometry.
We present an analysis of enhanced wave transmission through random media with mirror symmetry about a reflecting barrier. The mathematical model is the acoustic wave equation and we consider two setups, where the wave propagation is along…
We describe the {theory of focusing waves} to a predefined spatial point {inside} a disordered {three-dimensional medium} by the external shaping of {$N$} different field sources outside the medium, {also known as wavefront shaping}. We…
Casimir interactions between macroscopic objects are strongly influenced by their geometrical features as shape and orientation as well as by their material properties. The effect of geometry is commonly obtained from the proximity…
Spiral waves in excitable media possess both wave-like and particle-like properties. When resonantly forced (forced at the spiral rotation frequency) spiral cores travel along straight trajectories, but may reflect from medium boundaries.…
Describing the phenomenon of total internal reflection in terms of a reflection coefficient of unit magnitude, we found that, not only can propagating plane waves be total internally reflected at the planar interface of two dissimilar,…
Refraction and diffraction of waves in natural crystals and artificial crystals formed by anisotropically scattering centers are considered. A detailed study of the electromagnetic wave refraction in a two-dimensional photonic crystal…
A Finsler, not necessarily symmetric, metric in the plane or its convex subset is called projective if its geodesics are straight segments. We consider Finsler billiards in a convex planar domain endowed with a projective Finsler metric. A…
An experiment is described that tests theoretical predictions on how C-lines incident obliquely on a surface behave on reflection. C-lines in a polarised wave are the analogues of the optical vortices carried by a complex scalar wave, which…
In this paper we study global properties of the Wigner caustic of parameterized closed planar curves. We find new results on its geometry and singular points. In particular, we consider the Wigner caustic of rosettes, i.e. regular closed…
The physical origins of negative refractive index are derived from a dilute microscopic model, producing a result that is generalized to the dense condensed phase limit. In particular, scattering from a thin sheet of electric and magnetic…
This paper develops a rigorous mathematical framework for light propagation by constructing the optical phase space with its symplectic structure and the extended phase space with its contact structure. We prove that light rays in…
We study singularities and geometric properties of surfaces given by the singular loci of normal congruence of frontals with pure-frontal singular points. These surfaces consist of the normal ruled surface and focal surfaces of the initial…
The most general linear and local set of boundary conditions, involving relations between the normal components of the D and B vectors and tangential components of the E and H vectors at each point of the boundary, are considered in this…
This paper expands on a remark in the paper "Mirror Symmetry for Log Calabi-Yau Surfaces I" of the first three authors of this paper, explaining fully how various constructions of the authors apply to give the mirror to the cubic surface.…
A brief overview of the current state of the problem of electromagnetic field singularities arising from the refraction and scattering of light by material objects is given. The discussion begins with caustics arising from ray tracing in…
Departure from idealised plane waves gives rise to intricate geometric structures in wave fields. One such structure is the polarisation singularity, which emerges when multiple monochromatic waves interfere (such as would be the case for…