Principia Synthesia

Search Timeline Organizations

Sign in Get started

Loading article…

© 2026 Principia Synthesia

Settings Pricing Support

Wave Optics

Faculty Consortium

Wave Optics

Diffraction, interference, and the wave nature of light.

Jun 12, 2026verified Jun 12, 2026

Fork — sign in

Young's double-slit, single-slit diffraction, and the diffraction limit.

#electromagnetism #waves #optics

Contents3 sections

Wave Optics
Double-Slit Interference
Single-Slit Diffraction

Wave Optics§

Double-Slit Interference§

I(\theta) = I_0 \cos^2\left(\frac{\pi d \sin\theta}{\lambda}\right)

πdsinθ

)

Bright fringes at $d\sin\theta = m\lambda$ , $m \in \mathbb{Z}$ .

Single-Slit Diffraction§

I(\theta) = I_0 \left(\frac{\sin\beta}{\beta}\right)^2, \quad \beta = \frac{\pi a \sin\theta}{\lambda}

See the wave superposition animation: anim-wave-superposition.

Discussion

no comments

Website

Your nameYour comment

Commenting as a guest — sign in to comment as yourself.

No comments yet — yours could open the discussion.