= Augustin-Jean Fresnel
{c}
{tag=Physicist}
{title2=1788–1827}
{wiki}
= Augustin Fresnel
{c}
{synonym}
<Augustin-Jean Fresnel> developed wave descriptions of <diffraction> and <polarization of an electromagnetic wave>. <Fresnel diffraction> retains the curvature of the propagation <wave phase>, letting a wave account predict patterns at finite distances from an <aperture>. His polarization work helped establish the transverse character of <light>. In a modern example, orthogonal linear <polarizations> have no interference cross term in an ordinary total-<intensity> measurement; the field directions matter as well as the relative <wave phase>. He also connected optical theory with practical lighthouse illumination through the <Fresnel lens>.<Augustin Fresnel, Institut Fresnel biography>[Institutional account: wave optics, Fresnel integrals, polarization and lighthouse lenses; orthogonal-polarization example expressed in modern terms]{ref}
A <physicist>.https://www.fresnel.fr/wp/institut/presentation/augustin-fresnel/[Independent biographical identity and professional specialization]{ref}
\Image[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Redirect/file/Portrait%20d%27Augustin-Jean%20Fresnel%20%281788-1827%29%2C%20physicien%2C%20S668.jpg?width=250]
{title=Portrait of <Augustin-Jean Fresnel>}
{description=Pierre-Jean David d’Angers, sculptor; photograph by Eric Emo; Paris Musées / Musée Carnavalet, S668. Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, as supplied by Paris Musées. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/[Source usage terms], via Wikimedia Commons.}
{source=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_d%27Augustin-Jean_Fresnel_%281788-1827%29%2C_physicien%2C_S668.jpg}
{width=250}
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