Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/paper-2/section-b/b7/b/solution
Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge 2018 Paper 2 Section B B7 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Let the aperture occupy the plane, with coordinates and opening . Write for the incident scalar complex amplitude and for its dimensionless amplitude transmission, including any imposed phase. The observation point has transverse coordinates , corresponding to the PDF's , and axial distance . Also is the wavenumber and .
The Huygens-Fresnel principle expresses the propagated field, up to common prefactors and an approximately constant obliquity factor, asIn the paraxial approximation, expand the path asThe last term is negligible in the Fraunhofer diffraction limit, while the first two terms and are common across the aperture. Factoring them out leavesIt is the two-dimensional Fourier transform of the transmitted aperture field, evaluated at transverse wavevector . For appreciable observation angles the corresponding exact directional components are used rather than .
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