Instructor: Wayne Reed, Stern 5068, ph. 862-3185, wreed@tulane.edu

Office hours: Tu, Th 11:00-12:00, or by appointment

Text: Optics, 4^th Ed., by Eugene Hecht, Addison Wesley 2002

Class schedule: Tu, Th, 9:30am-10:45am

Classroom:  Newcomb Hall 12

Link to problem solutions

It took humanity thousands of years to finally realize that light is related to electric and magnetic phenomena, simple manifestations of which such as magnetic minerals and static electric sparks were known since antiquity. As such, Optics developed historically as an independent, and practically oriented science, concerned chiefly with forming images using the reflecting and refracting properties of different media. Within this approach it is often sufficient to treat light as 'rays', and trace them through different paths to determine how images form. This is termed Geometrical Optics, and traditionally constituted the opening volley for Optics courses, complete with in depth coverage of lenses, mirrors, stops, prisms, aberrations, and ray tracing techniques.

The unification of light and all electromagnetic waves through Maxwell's equations was one of the scientific triumphs of the nineteenth century.  In this course we will emphasize the electromagnetic and wave character of light, at the expense of Geometrical Optics.  Hence, following the books sequence, we will review wave formalisms (ch. 2) and basic electromagnetic wave theory (ch.3) at the outset of the course, and use this as an entry to the principles of scattering, reflection and refraction (ch. 4).  There will be an abbreviated treatment of Geometrical Optics from chapter 5,

before moving on to a selection of topics from the remaining chapters, including polarization, interference, diffraction, and Fourier Optics.

3 semester exams (20% each)

Participation, possible quizzes (10%)

Final Exam (30%): Monday, May 10^th, 8am-noon

Homework problems will be assigned on a regular basis, but will not be collected or graded, since solutions will be posted. We will, however, take time in class to go over selected homework problems.

1. To become proficient at using wave formalisms for expressing propagation, interference and other superposition phenomena.

2. To understand and use some of the power of Fourier transforms, particularly as they apply to optics.

3. To cover the theoretical basis of electromagnetic waves.

4. To become proficient at solving problems related to the polarization, interference, and diffraction of light.

5. To solve basic problems in image formation using Geometrical Optics.

6. To become familiar with the formal background behind some modern Optics areas such as Lasers and interferometry.

Chapter 2:  We will cover all sections
Problems:  23, 27, 28, 29, 32, 38, 42

Chapter 3:  We will cover all sections
Problems:   3, 5, 7, 8, 15, 16, 20, 22, 24, 28, 29,30, 32, 38,46, 48

Chapter 4:  We will cover all sections
Problems:  1, 4, 5, 8, 19, 21, 22, 28, 29, 32, 38, 45, 56, 58, 63

Chapter 5:  We will cover sections: 5.1-5.3, 5.6, 5.7.3-5.7.5, 5.8, 5.9
Problems: 1, 3, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 22, 23, 25, 37, 44, 47, 71, 72, 73, 87, 88

Chapter 7:  All sections
Problems:  1, 6, 9, 14, 18, 22, 29, 30, 35, 39, 43

Chapter  8:  8.1.1-8.1.3
No problems

Chapter 9:  9.1-9.4.2, 9.6
Problems:  3, 7, 10, 12, 13, 24, 26, 33, 35, 37, 47

Chapter 10:  10.1-10.2
Problems to be assigned

Chapter 11: All sections
Problems to be assigned