2/20/2014

Polarization; and The Human Eye

PolarizationandTheHumanEye
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Polarization
Totalkaboutthepolarizationofanelectromagneticwave,it'seasiesttolookatpolarizedlight.Just rememberthatwhateverappliestolightgenerallyappliestootherformsofelectromagneticwaves,too. So,whatismeantbypolarizedlight?It'slightinwhichthere'sapreferreddirectionfortheelectricand magneticfieldvectorsinthewave.Inunpolarizedlight,thereisnopreferreddirection:thewavescome inwithelectricandmagneticfieldvectorsinrandomdirections.Inlinearlypolarizedlight,theelectric fieldvectorsareallalongoneline(andsoarethemagneticfieldvectors,becausethey'reperpendicular totheelectricfieldvectors).Mostlightsourcesemitunpolarizedlight,butthereareseveralwayslight canbepolarized. Onewaytopolarizelightisbyreflection.Lightreflectingoffasurfacewilltendtobepolarized,with thedirectionofpolarization(thewaytheelectricfieldvectorspoint)beingparalleltotheplaneofthe interface. Anotherwaytopolarizelightisbyselectivelyabsorbinglightwithelectricfieldvectorspointingina particulardirection.Certainmaterials,knownasdichroicmaterials,dothis,absorbinglightpolarizedone waybutnotabsorbinglightpolarizedperpendiculartothatdirection.Ifthematerialisthickenoughto absorballthelightpolarizedinonedirection,thelightemergingfromthematerialwillbelinearly polarized.Polarizers(suchasthelensesofpolarizingsunglasses)aremadefromthiskindofmaterial. Ifunpolarizedlightpassesthroughapolarizer,theintensityofthetransmittedlightwillbe1/2ofwhatit wascomingin.Iflinearlypolarizedlightpassesthroughapolarizer,theintensityofthelighttransmitted isgivenbyMalus'law:

Athirdwaytopolarizelightisbyscattering.Lightscatteringoffatomsandmoleculesintheatmosphere isunpolarizedifthelightkeepstravelinginthesamedirection,islinearlypolarizedifatscattersina directionperpendiculartothewayitwastraveling,andsomewherebetweenlinearlypolarizedand unpolarizedifitscattersofatanotherangle. Thereareplentyofmaterialsthataffectthepolarizationoflight.Certainmaterials(suchascalcite) exhibitapropertyknownasbirefringence.Acrystalofbirefringentmaterialaffectslightpolarizedina particulardirectiondifferentlyfromlightpolarizedat90degreestothatdirectionitrefractslight polarizedonewayatadifferentanglethanitrefractslightpolarizedtheotherway.Lookingthrougha birefringentcrystalatsomething,you'dseeadoubleimage. Liquidcrystaldisplays,suchasthoseindigitalwatchesandcalculators,alsoexploitthepropertiesof polarizedlight.

Polarizationbyreflection
Onewaytopolarizelightisbyreflection.Ifabeamoflightstrikesaninterfacesothatthereisa90
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Polarization; and The Human Eye

anglebetweenthereflectedandrefractedbeams,thereflectedbeamwillbelinearlypolarized.The directionofpolarization(thewaytheelectricfieldvectorspoint)isparalleltotheplaneoftheinterface. Thespecialangleofincidencethatsatisfiesthiscondition,wherethereflectedandrefractedbeamsare perpendiculartoeachother,isknownastheBrewsterangle.TheBrewsterangle,theangleofincidence requiredtoproducealinearlypolarizedreflectedbeam,isgivenby:

ThisexpressioncanbederivedusingSnell'slaw,andthelawofreflection.Thediagrambelowshows someofthegeometryinvolved.

UsingSnell'slaw:

Thescatteringoflightintheatmosphere
Thewaylightscattersoffmoleculesintheatmosphereexplainswhytheskyisblueandwhythesun looksredatsunriseandsunset.Inanutshell,it'sbecausethemoleculesscatterlightattheblueendofthe visiblespectrummuchmorethanlightattheredendofthevisiblespectrum.Thisisbecausethe scatteringoflight(i.e.,theprobabilitythatlightwillinteractwithmoleculeswhenitpassesthroughthe atmosphere)isinverselyproportionaltothewavelengthtothefourthpower.

Violetlight,withawavelengthofabout400nm,isalmost10timesaslikelytobescatteredthanred light,whichhasawavelengthofabout700nm.Atnoon,whentheSunishighinthesky,lightfromthe Sunpassesthrougharelativelythinlayerofatmosphere,soonlyasmallfractionofthelightwillbe scattered.TheSunlooksyellowwhitebecauseallthecolorsarerepresentedalmostequally.Atsunrise orsunset,ontheotherhand,lightfromtheSunhastopassthroughmuchmoreatmospheretoreachour eyes.Alongtheway,mostofthelighttowardstheblueendofthespectrumisscatteredinother directions,butmuchlessofthelighttowardstheredendofthespectrumisscattered,makingtheSun appeartobeorangeorred. Sowhyistheskyblue?Again,let'slookatitwhentheSunishighinthesky.Someofthelightfrom theSuntravelingtowardsotherpartsoftheEarthisscatteredtowardsusbythemoleculesinthe atmosphere.Mostofthisscatteredlightislightfromtheblueendofthespectrum,sotheskyappears blue.
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Polarization; and The Human Eye

Whycan'tthissameargumentbeappliedtoclouds?Whydotheylookwhite,andnotblue?It'sbecause ofthesizeofthewaterdropletsinclouds.Thedropletsaremuchlargerthanthemoleculesinthe atmosphere,andtheyscatterlightofallcolorsequally.Thismakesthemlookwhite.

Opticsoftheeye
Thehumaneyeisawonderfulinstrument,relyingonrefractionandlensestoformimages.Thereare manysimilaritiesbetweenthehumaneyeandacamera,including: adiaphragmtocontroltheamountoflightthatgetsthroughtothelens.Thisistheshutterina camera,andthepupil,atthecenteroftheiris,inthehumaneye. alenstofocusthelightandcreateanimage.Theimageisrealandinverted. amethodofsensingtheimage.Inacamera,filmisusedtorecordtheimageintheeye,theimage isfocusedontheretina,andasystemofrodsandconesisthefrontendofanimageprocessing systemthatconvertstheimagetoelectricalimpulsesandsendstheinformationalongtheoptic nervetothebrain. Thewaytheeyefocuseslightisinteresting,becausemostoftherefractionthattakesplaceisnotdone bythelensitself,butbytheaqueoushumor,aliquidontopofthelens.Lightisrefractedwhenitcomes intotheeyebythisliquid,refractedalittlemorebythelens,andthenabitmorebythevitreoushumor, thejellylikesubstancethatfillsthespacebetweenthelensandtheretina. Thelensiscriticalinformingasharpimage,howeverthisisoneofthemostamazingfeaturesofthe humaneye,thatitcanadjustsoquicklywhenfocusingobjectsatdifferentdistances.Thisprocessof adjustmentisknownasaccommodation. Considerthelensequation:

Withacamera,thelenshasafixedfocallength.Iftheobjectdistanceischanged,theimagedistance (thedistancebetweenthelensandthefilm)isadjustedbymovingthelens.Thiscan'tbedonewiththe humaneye:theimagedistance,thedistancebetweenthelensandtheretina,isfixed.Iftheobject distanceischanged(i.e.,theeyeistryingtofocusobjectsthatareatdifferentdistances),thenthefocal lengthoftheeyeisadjustedtocreateasharpimage.Thisisdonebychangingtheshapeofthelensa muscleknownastheciliarymuscledoesthisjob.

Nearsightedness
Apersonwhoisnearsightedcanonlycreatesharpimagesofcloseobjects.Objectsthatarefurtheraway lookfuzzybecausetheeyebringsthemintofocusatapointinfrontoftheretina.Tocorrectforthis,a
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Polarization; and The Human Eye

diverginglensisplacedinfrontoftheeye,divergingthelightraysjustenoughsothatwhentheraysare convergedbytheeyetheyconvergeontheretina,creatingafocusedimage.

Farsightedness
Afarsightedpersoncanonlycreateclearimagesofobjectsthatarefaraway.Closeobjectsarebrought toafocusbehindtheretina,whichiswhytheylookfuzzy.Tocorrectforthis,aconverginglensis placedinfrontoftheeye,allowingimagestobebroughtintosharpfocusattheretina.

Diopters
Ifyougotoanoptometristtogetglassesorcontactlenses,youwillgetaprescriptionspecifiedinunits ofdiopters.Thisisameasureoftherefractivepowerofthelensneeded,whichmeansit'sameasureof thefocallengthofthelens.Thetwoare,infact,inverselyrelated: refractivepowerindiopters=1/focallengthinmeters Adiopterhasunitsof1/m. Ifthelensesyougetarespecifiedas5.0diopters,itmeanstheyhaveafocallengthof0.2m,meaning thattheyareconverginglensesthatbringparallelraysoflighttoafocus0.2mbeyondthelens. Similarly,lensesof2.0diopterscorrespondtoafocallengthof0.5mthesewouldbediverginglenses withafocalpoint0.5mfromthelens.

Lensaberrations
Lensescandistorttheimageofanobjectforanumberofreasons.Onekindofdistortionisknownas sphericalaberrationthisoccursbecauseparallelraysoflightarenotallfocusedtoasinglepointbya sphericallens.Thefurtherarayisfromtheprincipalaxis,themoreitmissesthefocalpoint. Asecondkindofdistortionischromaticaberration.Thisoccursbecausealenswillhaveaslightly differentindexofrefractionforlightofdifferentwavelengths(i.e.,lightofdifferentcolors).Inother words,chromaticaberrationiscausedbydispersion.Parallelraysofredlight,therefore,wouldbe broughttoadifferentfocalpointthanparallelraysoflightofanothercolor,leadingtoablurryimage. Tominimizechromaticaberration,manyhighqualitylensesaremadeupoftwolensesmadefrom differentmaterials.Onelenswillbeconverging,andtheotherdivergingthecompoundlenswillstillbe convergingoverall,generally.Thechromaticaberrationintroducedbyonelensiscorrectedforinthe secondlens,bringingparallelraysofanycolorlighttoaboutthesamefocalpoint.

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