Preface
Translator's Note
INTRODUCTION
  1.Geometrical, Physical, and Physiological Optics.Historical Chart
CHAPTER I.REFLECTION AND REFRACTION OF LIGHT
  2.Review of Electrodynamics.Basic Principles of Ideal and Natural Light
  3.Fresnel's Formulae.Transitions from Rarer to Denser Media
    A.Electric Vector Perpendicular to Plane of Incidence
    B.Magnetic Vector Perpendicular to Plane of Incidence
    C.Artificial Suppression of Reflection for Perpendicular Incidence
  4.Graphical Discussion of Fresnel's Formulae.Brewster's Law
    A.Plane of Polarization Parallel to Plane of Incidence
    B.Plane of Polarization Perpendicular to Plane of Incidence
    C.Practical Production of Polarized Light
    D.Brewster's Law from the Point of View of Electron Theory
    E.Energy Considerations.Reflecting Power r and Transmissivity d
  5.Total Reflection
    A.Discussion of Fresnel's Formulae
    B.Light Penetrating into the Rarer Medium
    C.The Tunnel Effect of Wave Mechanics
    D.Production of Elliptically and Circularly Polarized Light
  6.Metallic Reflection
    A.Fresnel's Formulae
    B.Experiments by Hagen and Rubens
    C.Some Remarks on the Color of Metals, Glasses, and Pigments
  7.Colors of Thin Membranes and Thick Plates
    A.The General Case
    B.The Oil Spot on Wet Asphalt
    C.Coated (Non-Reflecting) Lenses
    D.Soap Bubbles and Newton's Rings
    E.Comparison of Methods: Summation or Boundary-Value Treatment
    F.The Lummer-Gehrke Plate (1902)
    G.The Interferometer of Perot and Fabry (About 1900)
  8.Standing Light Waves
    A.Monochromatic, Linearly Polarized Light Which Is Incident Perpendicu larly upon a Metal Surface
    B.Obliquely Incident Light
    C.Lippmann's Color Photography
CHAPTER II.OPTICS OF MOVING MEDIA AND SOURCES.ASTRONOMICAL TOPICS
  9.Measurement of the Velocity of Light
  10.Aberration and Parallax
  11.The Doppler Effect
  12.Fresnel's Coefficient of Drag and Fizeau's Experiment
  13.Reflection by a Moving Mirror
  14.The Michelson Experiment
  15.The Experiments of Harress, Sagnac, and Michelson-Gale
  16.The Quantum Theory of Light
CHAPTER III.THEORY OF DISPERSION
  17.Ultraviolet Resonance Oscillations of the Electrons
  18.Infrared Resonance Oscillations of the Ions in Addition to Ultraviolet
  Electron Resonance Oscillations
  19.Anomalous Dispersion
  20.Magnetic Rotation of the Plane of Polarization
  21.The Normal Zeeman Effect and Some Remarks on the Anomalous Zeeman
  22.Phase Velocity, Signal Velocity, Group Velocity
    A.Fourier Representation of a Bounded Wave Train
    B.Propagation of the Wave Front in a Dispersive Medium
    C.The Precursors
    D.The Signal in its Final Steady State
    E.Group Velocity and Energy Transport
  23.The Wave Mechanical Theory of Dispersion
    A.Comparison of the Older Dispersion Formula with the Wave Mechanical Formula
CHAPTER IV.CRYSTAL OPTICS
  24.Fresnel's Ellipsoid, Index Ellipsoid, Principal Dielectric Axes
  25.The Structure of the Plane Wave and Its Polarization
  26.Dual Relations, Ray Surface and Normal Surface, Optic Axes
    A.Discussion of the Ray Surface
    B.The Optic Axes
  27.The Problem of Double Refraction
    A.Double Refraction According to Huygens' Principle
    B.The Law of Refraction as a Boundary Value Problem
    C.The Amplitudes of Reflected and Refracted Rays
  28.The Optical Symmetry of Crystals
  29.Optically Active Crystals and Fluids
    A.The Gyration Vector of Solenoidal Crystal Structures
    B.The Rotation of the Plane of Polarization in Quartz
    C.Optically Active Fluids
  30.Nicol's Prism, Quarter Wave Plate, Tourmaline Tongs, and Dichroism
    A.Nicol's Prism
    B.The Quarter Wave Plate and the Babinet Compensator
    C.Tourmaline and the Polarization Filter
  31.Interference Phenomena due to Crystal Plates in Parallel and in Converging Polarized Light
    A.Parallel Light
    B.Converging Light
CHAPTER V.THE THEORY OF DIFFRACTION
  32.Theory of Gratings
    A.Line Gratings
    B.Cross Gratings
    C.Space Gratings
  33.Diffraction Arising from Many Randomly Distributed Particles
  34.Huygens' Principle
    A.The Spherical Wave
    B.Green's Theorem and Kirchhoff's Formulation of Huygens' Principle
    C.Green's Function, Simplified Formulation of Huygens' Principle
    D.Fraunhofer and Fresnel Diffraction
    E.Babinet's Principle
    F.Black or Reflecting Screen
    G.Two Generalizations
  35.The Problem of the Shadow in Geometrical and in Wave Optics
    A.The Eikonal
    B.The Origin of the Shadow According to Wave Optics
    C.Diffraction Behind a Circular Disc
    D.The Circular Opening and Fresnel Zones
    E.The Similarity Law of Diffraction
  36.Fraunhofer Diffraction by Rectangles and Circles
    A.Diffraction by a Rectangle
    B.Diffraction by a Slit
    C.The Circular Aperture
    D.Phase Gratings
    E.Supplement to Section 35 B.Light Fans Arising from Polygonally Bounded Apertures
  37.Fresnel Diffraction by a Slit
    A.Fresnel's Integrals
    B.Discussion of the Diffraction Pattern
    C.Diffraction by a Straight Edge
  38.Rigorous Solutions of Certain Diffraction Problems
    A.The Problem of the Straight Edge
    B.Construction of Branched Solutions
    C.Representation of U by a Fresnel Integral
    D.The Diffraction Field of the Straight-Edge
    E.Generalization
    F.Basic Remarks on Branched Solutions
CHAPTER VI.ADDENDA, CHIEFLY TO THE THEORY OF DIFFRACTION
  39.Diffraction by a Very Narrow Slit
    A.The Boundary Value Problem of the Slit
    B.Solution of the Integral Equations (10) and (12)
    C.Discussion
  40.The Resolving Power of Optical Instruments
    A.The Resolving Power of Line Gratings
    B.Echelon Gratings and Interference Spectroscopy
  41.The Prism.Basic Theory of Resolving Power
    A.General Considerations Regarding Resolving Power
    B.Applications to Gratings and Interference Spectroscopes
  42.The Telescope and the Eye.Michelson's Measurements of the Sizes of Fixed Stars
  43.The Microscope
    A.Abbe's Theory of the Microscope
    B.Significance of Phase Gratings in Microscopy
  44.On Young's Interpretation of Diffraction
    A.Reformulation of Kirchhoff's Solution of the Problem of Diffraction
    B.Reduction of the Surface Integral over the Cone to a Line Integral over the Boundary of the Diffraction Opening.Sharpening of Young's Theory
    C.Discussion of the Contour Integral
  45.Diffraction Near Focal Points
    A.The Hypothesis of Debye
    B.The Diffraction Field in the Neighborhood of the Focal Point
    C.Amplitude and Phase Along and Near the Axis of the Light Cone
    D.The Cylindrical Wave and Its Phase Jump
  46.The Huygens' Principle of the Electromagnetic Vector Problem
  47.Cerenkov Radiation
    A.The Field of the Cerenkov Electron
    B.The Radiation of the Cerenkov Electron
    C.Cerenkov Radiation with Dispersion Taken into Account
    D.A Final Critical Remark
  48.Supplement on Geometrical Optics, Curved Light Rays, Sine Condition Lens Formulae, Rainbow
    A.The Curvature of Light Rays
    B.Abbe's Sine Condition
    C.On the Structure of Rectilinear Ray Bundles
    D.On the Lens Formula
    E.Production of Curved Light Rays by Diffusion and a Remark on the Theory of the Rainbow
  49.On the Nature of White Light.Photon Theory and Complementarity ..352
Problems for Chapter I
Problems for Chapter III
Problems for Chapter IV
Solutions to Problems
Index