Knowledge (XXG)

Paraxial approximation

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In some cases, the second-order approximation is also called "paraxial". The approximations above for sine and tangent do not change for the "second-order" paraxial approximation (the second term in their
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The second-order approximation is accurate within 0.5% for angles under about 10°, but its inaccuracy grows significantly for larger angles.
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of the system, and lies close to the axis throughout the system. Generally, this allows three important approximations (for
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Use of the small angle approximations replaces dimensionless trigonometric functions with angles in radians. When doing
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on optics equations it is important to remember that radians are dimensionless and therefore can be ignored.
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The error associated with the paraxial approximation. In this plot the cosine is approximated by
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expansion is zero), while for cosine the second order approximation is
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For larger angles it is often necessary to distinguish between
246:{\displaystyle \cos \theta \approx 1-{\theta ^{2} \over 2}\ .} 201: 102: 245: 161: 62:of light through an optical system (such as a 297: 295: 293: 291: 93:) for calculation of the ray's path, namely: 27:Small angle approximation in geometric optics 8: 184:is one method that uses the approximation. 226: 220: 200: 138: 101: 287: 263:, which lie in a plane containing the 172:The paraxial approximation is used in 401:Paraxial Approximation and the Mirror 7: 367:"Paraxial approximation error plot" 405:The Wolfram Demonstrations Project 306:. SPIE Field Guides. Vol. 1. 25: 304:Field Guide to Geometrical Optics 143: 137: 121: 1: 302:Greivenkamp, John E. (2004). 182:Ray transfer matrix analysis 437: 77:that makes a small angle ( 52:small-angle approximation 336:"Paraxial Approximation" 247: 163: 48:paraxial approximation 39: 248: 164: 33: 276:dimensional analysis 199: 100: 421:Geometrical optics 403:by David Schurig, 332:Weisstein, Eric W. 310:. pp. 19–20. 243: 159: 40: 239: 235: 141: 16:(Redirected from 428: 388: 387: 385: 383: 377:Wolfram Research 363: 357: 356: 354: 352: 346:Wolfram Research 328: 322: 321: 299: 271:, which do not. 252: 250: 249: 244: 237: 236: 231: 230: 221: 168: 166: 165: 160: 142: 139: 44:geometric optics 37: 21: 436: 435: 431: 430: 429: 427: 426: 425: 411: 410: 397: 392: 391: 381: 379: 365: 364: 360: 350: 348: 330: 329: 325: 318: 301: 300: 289: 284: 261:meridional rays 222: 197: 196: 174:Gaussian optics 98: 97: 56:Gaussian optics 35: 28: 23: 22: 18:Paraxial optics 15: 12: 11: 5: 434: 432: 424: 423: 413: 412: 409: 408: 396: 395:External links 393: 390: 389: 358: 323: 316: 286: 285: 283: 280: 254: 253: 242: 234: 229: 225: 219: 216: 213: 210: 207: 204: 170: 169: 158: 155: 152: 149: 146: 136: 133: 130: 127: 124: 120: 117: 114: 111: 108: 105: 26: 24: 14: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 433: 422: 419: 418: 416: 406: 402: 399: 398: 394: 378: 374: 373: 372:Wolfram Alpha 368: 362: 359: 347: 343: 342: 337: 333: 327: 324: 319: 317:0-8194-5294-7 313: 309: 305: 298: 296: 294: 292: 288: 281: 279: 277: 272: 270: 269:sagittal rays 266: 262: 257: 240: 232: 227: 223: 217: 214: 211: 208: 205: 202: 195: 194: 193: 191: 190:Taylor series 185: 183: 180:ray tracing. 179: 175: 156: 153: 150: 147: 144: 134: 131: 128: 125: 122: 118: 115: 112: 109: 106: 103: 96: 95: 94: 92: 88: 84: 80: 76: 72: 67: 65: 61: 57: 53: 49: 45: 32: 19: 380:. Retrieved 370: 361: 349:. Retrieved 341:ScienceWorld 339: 326: 303: 273: 265:optical axis 258: 255: 186: 177: 171: 86: 83:optical axis 78: 71:paraxial ray 70: 68: 47: 41: 178:first-order 60:ray tracing 351:15 January 282:References 382:26 August 224:θ 218:− 212:≈ 209:θ 206:⁡ 154:≈ 151:θ 148:⁡ 135:θ 132:≈ 129:θ 126:⁡ 116:θ 113:≈ 110:θ 107:⁡ 81:) to the 415:Category 334:(2007). 54:used in 91:radians 36:1 - θ/2 314:  267:, and 238:  46:, the 73:is a 50:is a 384:2014 353:2014 312:ISBN 308:SPIE 176:and 64:lens 58:and 203:cos 145:cos 140:and 123:tan 104:sin 89:in 75:ray 66:). 42:In 417:: 375:. 369:. 344:. 338:. 290:^ 157:1. 69:A 407:. 386:. 355:. 320:. 241:. 233:2 228:2 215:1 119:, 87:θ 79:θ 38:. 20:)

Index

Paraxial optics

geometric optics
small-angle approximation
Gaussian optics
ray tracing
lens
ray
optical axis
radians
Gaussian optics
Ray transfer matrix analysis
Taylor series
meridional rays
optical axis
sagittal rays
dimensional analysis




SPIE
ISBN
0-8194-5294-7
Weisstein, Eric W.
"Paraxial Approximation"
ScienceWorld
Wolfram Research
"Paraxial approximation error plot"
Wolfram Alpha

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