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Ray tracing (physics) In physics, ray tracing is a method for calculating the path of waves or particles through a system with regions of varying propagation velocity, absorption characteristics, and reflecting surfaces. Under these circumstances, wavefronts may bend, change direction, or reflect off surfaces, complicating analysis.
Rays and wavefronts. In optics, a ray is an idealized geometrical model of light or other electromagnetic radiation, obtained by choosing a curve that is perpendicular to the wavefronts of the actual light, and that points in the direction of energy flow. [1] [2] Rays are used to model the propagation of light through an optical system, by ...
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. [1] Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light. Light is a type of electromagnetic radiation, and other forms of ...
Optical path length. In optics, optical path length ( OPL, denoted Λ in equations), also known as optical length or optical distance, is the length that light needs to travel through a vacuum to create the same phase difference as it would have when traveling through a given medium. It is calculated by taking the product of the geometric ...
Light scattering by particles is the process by which small particles (e.g. ice crystals, dust, atmospheric particulates, cosmic dust, and blood cells) scatter light causing optical phenomena such as the blue color of the sky, and halos . Maxwell's equations are the basis of theoretical and computational methods describing light scattering, but ...
A light ray is a line or curve that is perpendicular to the light's wavefronts (and is therefore collinear with the wave vector). A slightly more rigorous definition of a light ray follows from Fermat's principle , which states that the path taken between two points by a ray of light is the path that can be traversed in the least time.
Caustic (optics) In optics, a caustic or caustic network [1] is the envelope of light rays which have been reflected or refracted by a curved surface or object, or the projection of that envelope of rays on another surface. [2] The caustic is a curve or surface to which each of the light rays is tangent, defining a boundary of an envelope of ...
Ray tracing is a method for calculating the path of waves or particles through a system. The method is practiced in two distinct forms: Ray tracing (physics), which is used for analyzing optical and other systems. Ray tracing (graphics), which is used for 3D image generation. Category: