Related papers: Common principles behind rainbows and boat wakes
This chapter represents an attempt to summarize some of the direct and indirect connections that exist between ray theory, wave theory and potential scattering theory. Such connections have been noted in the past, and have been exploited to…
A semiclassical analysis of an optical potential cross section is presented. The cross section considered is characterized by the appearance of an Airy-like pattern. This pattern is similar to that which is present in many cross sections,…
Catastrophes are at the heart of many fascinating optical phenomena. The rainbow, for example, is a ray catastrophe where light rays become infinitely intense. The wave nature of light resolves the infinities of ray catastrophes while…
The optical properties of sub-wavelength arrays of atoms or other quantum emitters have attracted significant interest recently. For example, the strong constructive or destructive interference of emitted light enables arrays to function as…
A rainbow is a captivating natural phenomenon resulting from the refraction, dispersion, and reflection of sunlight within water droplets. Traditional classroom demonstrations often focus on qualitative explanations of the formation of…
Classical theory asserts that several electromagnetic waves cannot interact with matter if they interfere destructively to zero, whereas quantum mechanics predicts a nontrivial light-matter dynamics even when the average electric field…
This paper presents a contemporary review of vertical coupling in the atmosphere and ionosphere system induced by internal waves of lower atmospheric origin. Atmospheric waves are primarily generated by meteorological processes, possess a…
A wave near an isolated turning point is typically assumed to have an Airy function profile with respect to the separation distance. This description is incomplete, however, and is insufficient to describe the behavior of more realistic…
Rainbows are generally considered to be caused by static refraction and reflection. A primary and a secondary rainbow appear due to refraction and internal reflection in a raindrop as explained by Newton. The quantum nuclear rainbow, which…
We propose a mechanism for the damping of short ocean gravity waves during rainstorms associated with the injection of air bubbles by rain drops. The mechanism is proposed as one of the possible explanations that ascribe to rain a calming…
The rainbow reflection effect describes the broadband spatial separation of wave spectral components caused by a spatially graded array of resonators. Although mainly studied in optics and acoustics, this phenomenon has recently been…
We state several ideas based on the view-point of particle behaviour of matter to explain wave character of photon and elementary particles. By using Newton's suggestion of light ray, we clarify integrally the behaviour of light ``wave''.…
Interference is the mechanism through which waves can be structured into the most fascinating patterns. While for sensing, imaging, trapping, or in fundamental investigations, structured waves play nowadays an important role and are…
Across the stable density stratification of the abyssal ocean, deep dense water is slowly propelled upward by sustained, though irregular, turbulent mixing. The resulting mean upwelling determines large-scale oceanic circulation properties…
In diffraction catastrophes such as the rainbow the wave nature of light resolves ray singularities and draws delicate interference patterns. In quantum catastrophes such as the black hole the quantum nature of light resolves wave…
In its broadest sense the term bent wave rays hints at light or electromagnetic waves bending in a strong gravitational field or in their progress through a transparent medium of nonuniform index of refraction. However, there are instances…
We study water waves propagating over a smooth obstacle in a fluid of varying depth, motivated by the observation that submerged islands in the ocean act as effective lenses that increase the amplitude and destructive power of tsunami waves…
A sort of gravitational waveguide effect in cosmology could explain some anomalous phenomena which cannot be understood by the current gravitational lensing models as the existence of "twins" objects with similar spectra and redshifts posed…
Interactions between light and conducting nanostructures can result in a variety of novel and fascinating phenomena. These properties may have wide applications, but their underlying mechanisms have not been completely understood. From…
We describe a simple mechanical system, a ball rolling along a specially-designed landscape, that mimics the dynamics of a well known phenomenon, the two-bounce resonance of solitary wave collisions, that has been seen in countless…