Professor Korpel is in the finishing stages of writing a hypertext on optics, entitled Fundamentals of Applied Optics . Rather than chapters, the book is divided in stand-alone subjects with hyper links forming an internal and external connecting grid. This makes the book ideal for both instruction and self-study. In the case of teaching, the instructor stipulates a path through the indidviual subjects, according to her own preferences. For self-study the reader starts at a point that is familiar and then moves forwards, backwards, or sideways as needed.
Two sample subjects are displayed on this web site: PLANE WAVE SPECTRA and PROPAGATION OF THE OPTICAL FIELD . Qua style and format these are representative of the subjects written up so far. A listing may be found in the INTRODUCTION.
In order to peruse the sample subjects, readers need to have access to the ADOBE READER which is available on most browsers. It may be downloaded for free from the above link.
It is hoped that the book will become available in 1998, in CD ROM format. Readers interested in being notified should send an e-mail on the response form provided on this site, or to adrian-korpel@uiowa.edu



Topics covered so far are:
  • Conventions and definitions
  • Rays
  • Stationary phase
  • Eikonal theory
  • Convolution and correlation
  • Fourier transforms
  • Wave equations and waves
  • Plane wave spectra
  • Propagation of the optical field
  • Fresnel diffraction
  • Fraunhofer diffraction
  • The diffraction-limited focus
  • Normalization and numerics
  • MATHCAD experiments
  • Lenses as Fourier transformers
  • Amplitude and phase masks
The following additional topics are being written for the first version:
  • System response
  • Coherent and incoherent imaging
  • Holography
  • Gratings
  • Nonlinear propagation
  • Diffraction-free beams
  • Quantum mechanics of focusing
  • Aberration
Future upgrades will cover more specialized topics:
  • Polarization
  • Spectral formalisms
  • Generalized functions
  • Hilbert transforms
  • Fourier series
  • Optical Signal Processing
  • Acousto-optics
  • The Quasi theorem
  • Schlieren imaging
  • Anisotropy