Summary of Material in Chapters 1-3
You should understand the meanings of the following terms:
transverse and longitudinal waves
sine wave
period, wavelength, angular and rotational frequency, wavenumber, phase speed
wave displacement, wave amplitude (for sine waves)
superposition principle, interference
wave packet, group velocity, dispersion relation
plane wave, wave vector, diffraction, spreading angle
diffraction grating
reflection, refraction, total internal reflection
isotropic, anisotropic
thin lens approximation, object, image, focal length
You should understand the following topics:
Superposition principle
Dispersion relations in 1-D
Wave and group velocities and the differences between them
Wave packets and their motions in 1-D
Simple interferometers such as the Michelson and Fabry-Perot
Thin film interference
Plane waves and their superposition in 2-D
Dispersion relations in 2-D and their graphical representation (constant omega curves in kx-ky plane)
Orientation of wave fronts, lines of destructive interference, beams
Passage of light through a single slit, two slits, a diffraction grating
The approximations behind geometrical optics
The law of reflection
Snell's law and its limitations
Use of the thin lens formula
Fermat's principle