We investigate the interaction of intense light with matter: extreme conditions within a medium lead to the generation of remarkable bursts of rainbow light. Intense light can also induce an effective flow in the medium that can be used to create artificial event horizons and study spacetime geometries inspired by general relativity. Answering these questions leads to discoveries at the overlap between laser physics, quantum field theory, general relativity and photonic technologies.
Optics InfoBase is the Optical Society's online library for flagship journals, partnered and copublished journals, and recent proceedings from OSA conferences.
On August22,1860, German engineer Paul Gottlieb Nipkow was born, who invented a predecessor of today's television http://yovisto.blogspot.de/2014/08/paul-nipkow-and-picture-scanning.html
On October 2, 1608, German-Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey applied to the States-General of the Netherlands for a patent for his instrument "for seeing things far away as if they were nearby".
On October 2, 1608, German-Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey applied to the States-General of the Netherlands on October 2, 1608, for a patent for his instrument "for seeing things far away as if they were nearby".
On June 26, 1730, French astronomer Charles Messier was born. He is best known for his publication of an astronomical catalogue consisting of nebulae and star clusters that came to be known as the 110 "Messier objects". The purpose of the catalogue was to help astronomical observers, in particular comet hunters such as himself, distinguish between permanent and transient visually diffuse objects in the sky.
On May 2nd, 1601 (or 1602), German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher was born. He has published most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology, and medicine, and has been compared to Leonardo da Vinci for his enormous range of interests. He is regarded as one of the founders of Egyptology for his (mostly fruitless) efforts in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, wrote an encyclopedia about China, studied volcanos and fossils, was one of the very first to observe microbes thorough a microscope, and experimented with the laterna magica as a predecessor of photography.
On March 25, 1655, Saturn's largest moon Titan was discovered by astronomer and physicist Christiaan Huygens. Titan is considered as the most Earth-like moon discovered so far and the second largest in the solar system.
On March 3, 1931, German physicist Ernst Ruska together with his doctoral advisor Max Knoll presented the very first prototype electron microscope, capable of four-hundred-power magnification; the apparatus was the first demonstration of the principles of electron microscopy.
On March 6, 1787, German optician and physicist Joseph Fraunhofer - later enobled Ritter von Fraunhofer - was born. He is known for the discovery of the dark absorption lines known as Fraunhofer lines in the Sun's spectrum, and for making excellent optical glass and achromatic telescope objectives. Moreover, he is the name giver for the German Fraunhofer Society for the advancement of applied research.
On January 23, 1840, German physicist, optometrist, entrepreneur, and social reformer Ernst Abbe was born. Together with Otto Schott and Carl Zeiss, he laid the foundation of modern optics. As a co-owner of Carl Zeiss AG, a German manufacturer of research microscopes, astronomical telescopes, planetariums and other optical systems, Abbe developed numerous optical instruments.
On January 23, 1840, German physicist, optometrist, entrepreneur, and social reformer Ernst Abbe was born. Together with Otto Schott and Carl Zeiss, he laid the foundation of modern optics. As a co-owner of Carl Zeiss AG, a German manufacturer of research microscopes, astronomical telescopes, planetariums and other optical systems, Abbe developed numerous optical instruments.
Mathematician Andrew Hicks, at Drexel University, Philadelphia, used computer algorithms to generate the mirror's bizarre surface, which curves and bends in different directions.
Optics and Photonics Journal (OPJ) is an international, specialized, English-language journal devoted to publication of original contributions in all areas of optics and photonics. The Journal disseminates new results in the theory, design, applications, fabrication, performance and characterization of optics and photonics materials including bio-related functions such as bio-optics, bio-photonics and also optoelectronics. The journal is also devoted to challenging and innovating methods and techniques related to the development of optics and photonics materials, characterization and applications. It is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal describing scientific and technological advances that cover the basic sciences, engineering aspects and applied technology.
First germanium laser New results from MIT’s Electronic Materials Research Group bring us closer to computers that use light instead of electricity to move data.
GLAS (the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System) is the first laser-ranging (lidar) instrument for continuous global observations of Earth, which will make unique atmospheric observations as an important component of the ESE climate change program. GLAS is a facility instrument designed to measure ice-sheet topography and associated temporal changes, cloud and atmospheric properties.and give us information on the height and thickness of radiatively important cloud layers which is needed for accurate short term climate and weather prediction. In addition, operation of GLAS over land and water will provide along-track topography.
Pyoptic is an optics and physics simulation based on python and uses scipy as a calculation engine, matplotlib and tvtk for visualisation. It is mainly intended for simple simulations of optical engineering, imaging systems, laser systems, laser transportation and applications, lens design etc.
From the article: Since the early 20th century physicists have known that light carries momentum, but the way this momentum changes as light passes through different media is much less clear. Two rival theories of the time predicted precisely the opposite effect for light incident on a dielectric: one suggesting it pushes the surface in the direction light is traveling; the other suggesting it drags the surface backwards towards the source of light. After 100 years of conflicting experimental results, a team of experimentalists from China believe they have finally found a resolution
A photograph's detail is an integral part of its appeal. Many photographers spend a great deal of time, energy and money acquiring equipment to make sharp images. Back in the film era, if 35mm didn't satisfy them, they invested in medium format, 4x5, 8x10, or larger. (I know two who use 8x20 inch cameras.) The digital versus film debate is now mostly settled (2007), but there is still some debate over the relationship between the number of megapixels and image quality. I love sharpness and detail, but I take my camera gear on long hikes, so I prefer to carry lightweight equipment. I need to know what it can achieve, how to get the most out of it and what I'm trading off by not going to a larger format, apart from saving my back. That's what motivated this study.