摘要

Optical phenomena visible to everyone have been central to the development of, and abundantly illustrate, important concepts in science and mathematics. The phenomena considered from this viewpoint are rainbows, sparkling reflections on water, mirages, green flashes, earthlight on the moon, glories, daylight, crystals and the squint moon. And the concepts involved include refraction, caustics (focal singularities of ray optics), wave interference, numerical experiments, mathematical asymptotics, dispersion, complex angular momentum (Regge poles), polarisation singularities, Hamilton's conical intersections of eigenvalues ('Dirac points'), geometric phases and visual illusions.

  • 出版日期2015-1-2