Wave Optics

Paperback, xii + 448 pages, NOT ex-library. Bumped upper outer corners: creases on the covers + light gentle creases on pages. Text pages are clean and bright with unmarked text, book is free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. A tiny incision on spine. -- Petykiewicz's Wave Optics offers one of the most comprehensive and conceptually rigorous introductions to the theory of optical wave phenomena in the tradition of classical electrodynamics. It is a masterclass in the physical understanding of light - not simply as a ray or quantum, but as a field governed by Maxwell's equations and subject to the intricacies of real-world propagation, coherence, interference, and diffraction. Wave Optics builds a systematic and mathematically exact approach to electromagnetic wave theory, beginning with the fundamental elements of field description: Maxwell's equations, boundary conditions, energy and momentum conservation, and the derivation of the wave equation. From these first principles, Petykiewicz develops a deep treatment of polarization, spectral decomposition, and the behavior of electromagnetic waves at interfaces and within media of varying optical properties - including dispersive, conductive, and anisotropic materials. The strength of this book lies in its balance between abstract theoretical formulation and detailed physical application. Chapters on coherence, interference, and partial polarization address both idealized and real-world light sources. Readers are introduced to correlation functions, Fabry-Pérot interferometry, the Doppler effect on spectral lines, and the quantitative influence of coherence time and spatial coherence on optical imaging. Also valuable is the book's extensive treatment of diffraction - classical and electromagnetic. The coverage ranges from Kirchhoff and Rayleigh-Sommerfeld formulations to modern interpretations using Fourier optics and spatial frequency filtering. Diffraction patterns of common apertures and gratings are analyzed in depth, supported by derivations of Fresnel and Fraunhofer approximations, symmetry properties, and the physical significance of transfer functions. Later chapters broaden the scope to cover optical phenomena in crystalline and gyrotropic media, scattering by particles and fluctuations, the electrodynamics of the Faraday effect, and the basic principles of holography. The book also addresses nonlinear optical phenomena, waveguide propagation, and culminates with a clear exposition of the geometric optics approximation, using ray matrices and the eikonal equation to bridge ray and wave models. Wave Optics is ideal for upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in physics or optical engineering. Its technical breadth and conceptual depth place it alongside classic treatments by Born and Wolf, but with a more focused emphasis on the continuum mechanics of optical fields. -- Contents: 1 Fundamental Elements of the Classical Description of the Electromagnetic Field 2 Electromagnetic Description of Light 3 Coherence/Interference Phenomena 4 Elements of Diffraction Theory 5 Diffraction of Electromagnetic Waves 6 Optics of Crystals 7 Gyrotropic Media 8 Light Scattering 9 Physical Principles of Holography 10 Nonlinear Phenomena in Optics 11 Waveguide Optics 12 Geometric Optics Approximation; Index. …