= Hamilton's optico-mechanical analogy
{wiki=Hamilton's_optico-mechanical_analogy}
Hamilton's optico-mechanical analogy is a conceptual framework that draws parallels between optical phenomena and mechanical systems within the context of classical mechanics. It is fundamentally associated with the principles of Hamiltonian mechanics, which reformulate classical mechanics using the Hamiltonian function, focusing on energy and phase space. The key idea behind the analogy is to describe optical systems (such as light rays) in terms of mechanical variables (such as position and momentum).
Back to article page