A comprehensive and engaging textbook, covering the main areas of optics and its modern applications.

This award-winning book has been translated from the original French by the author and thoroughly updated. It gives an introduction to modern optics at an advanced level, taking a unique approach inspired by Richard Feynman.

This incisive text provides a basic undergraduate-level course in modern optics for students in physics, technology and engineering. The first half of the book deals with classical physical optics; the second principally with the quantum nature of light. Chapters 1 and 2 treat the propagation of light waves, including the concepts of phase and group velocities, and the vectorial nature of light. Chapter 3 applies the concepts of partial coherence and coherence length to the study of interference, and Chapter 4 takes up multiple-beam interference and includes Fabry-Perot interferometry and multilayer-film theory. Diffraction and holography are the subjects of Chapter 5, and the propagation of light in material media (including crystal and nonlinear optics) are central to Chapter 6. Chapters 7 and 8 introduce the quantum theory of light and elementary optical spectra, and Chapter 9 explores the theory of light amplification and lasers. Chapter 10 briefly outlines ray optics in order to introduce students to the matrix method for treating optical systems and to apply the ray matrix to the study of laser resonators. Many applications of the laser to the study of optics are integrated throughout the text. The author assumes students have had an intermediate course in electricity and magnetism and some advanced mathematics beyond calculus. For classroom use, a list of problems is included at the end of each chapter, with selected answers at the end of the book.

The book introduces university undergraduates to the fascinating world of the science of light. Contemporary physics programmes are under increasing pressure to provide a balance between coverage of several traditional branches of physics and to expose students to emerging research areas. It is therefore important to provide an in depth introduction to some branches of physics, such as optics, to students who may not become professional physicists but will need physics in their chosen professions. Some Universities offer optics as semester courses while others offer it as modules within general physics courses in the degree programme. The book meets the needs of both approaches. Optics has three major branches: Geometrical optics, Physical optics and Quantum optics. Chapter 1 is about the nature of light. Geometrical optics is covered in chapters 2 to 5, Physical optics in chapters 6 to 8, and Quantum optics in chapter 9, and lays a foundation for advanced courses in applied quantum optics. The language of physics is universal, and the book is suited to students globally. However, the book recognises certain peculiarities in Africa, and is written to meet the specific needs of students in African Universities. Some students come from well equipped schools while other students come from less well equipped schools. These two groups of students attending the same course have different needs. The well prepared students need challenge, while the others need to be taught in fair detail. The book has therefore detailed discussions and explanations of difficult-to-grasp topics with the help of simple but clearly drawn and labeled diagrams. The discussions and conclusions are presented pointwise, and key words, definitions, laws, etc., are highlighted. There are a large number of problems and exercises at the end of each chapter.

The Second Edition of this successful textbook provides a clear, well-written introduction to both the fundamental principles of optics and the key aspects of photonics to show how the subject has developed in the last few decades, leading to many modern applications. Optics and Photonics: An Introduction, Second Edition thus provides a complete undergraduate course on optics in a single integrated text, and is an essential resource for all undergraduate physics, science and engineering students taking a variety of optics based courses. Specific changes for this edition include: New material on modern optics and photonics Rearrangement of chapters to give a logical progression, comprising groups of chapters on geometric optics, wave optics and photonics Many more worked examples and problems Substantial revisions to chapters on Holography, Lasers and the Interaction of Light with Matter Solutions can be found at: www.booksupport.wiley.com

Introduction to Optics is now available in a re-issued edition from Cambridge University Press. Designed to offer a comprehensive and engaging introduction to intermediate and upper level undergraduate physics and engineering students, this text also allows instructors to select specialized content to suit individual curricular needs and goals. Specific features of the text, in terms of coverage beyond traditional areas, include extensive use of matrices in dealing with ray tracing, polarization, and multiple thin-film interference; three chapters devoted to lasers; a separate chapter on the optics of the eye; and individual chapters on holography, coherence, fiber optics, interferometry, Fourier optics, nonlinear optics, and Fresnel equations.