Читать книгу Stigmatic Optics - Rafael G González-Acuña - Страница 12

In this chapter, we are going to review Maxwell’s equations. The main goal is to get the wave equation. From, the wave equation we can get the eikonal equation. From the eikonal equation, we can derive the concept of ray and set the bases of geometrical optics.

The general idea of this book is to take Maxwell’s equations as axioms and their implications as theorems. In this language, the wave equation would be a theorem, a direct consequence of Maxwell’s equations. The equation of the eikonal, under one approximation, is an implication of the wave equation and from it, we develop the theory of stigmatism.

The purest and most exquisite branch of geometric optics is stigmatic optics, the branch to which this book owes its name.