Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2011/paper-1/section-b/b8/b-beam-width/solution

A beam illuminates only slits, giving and . The two main lobes broaden by compared with the wider beam. Their separation is slightly below the stated Rayleigh threshold: marginally unresolved by that criterion. This is not an assertion that the profile has only one maximum: the ideal equal-line sum still has two maxima and a modest central dip, as plotted. Inference from real data also requires adequate signal-to-noise ratio and a known instrumental profile.

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