Chapter 1 The macroscopic Maxwell equations I. Dielectric materials
Chapter 2 The macroscopic Maxwell equations II. Bound current and magnetic materials
Chapter 3 Review of light in vacuum
Chapter 4 Time-dependent fields in materials and complex permittivity
Chapter 5 Macroscopic wave equation in matter
Chapter 6 Reflection and transmission of a plane wave at a dielectric interface
Chapter 7 Polarization
Chapter 8 Eikonal approximation and geometric optics
Chapter 9 Applications of the transport equation. Light intensity
Chapter 10 Caustic surfaces. Calculational examples
Chapter 11 Paraxial approximation in geometric optics. Spherical lenses and mirrors
Chapter 12 Spherical electromagnetic waves. Scalar-wave theory. Huygens-Fresnel integral
Chapter 13 Fresnel-Kirchhoff integral. Far-field and near-field diffraction regimes
Chapter 14 Far-field and near-field diffraction by a general aperture
Chapter 15 Energy conservation in diffraction. Diffraction examples I
Chapter 16 Diffraction examples II: Circular aperture, lens and mirror
Chapter 17 Diffraction examples III: Multiple slits and gratings. Resolving power
Chapter 18 Fourier optics approach to diffraction and optical processing
Chapter 19 Interference by division of amplitude. Fringe visibility. Interference geometries
Chapter 20 Interference of multiply reflected waves. Fabry-Perot interferometer. LIGO
Chapter 21 Coherence. Power spectrum and correlation functions
Chapter 22 Propagation of light in anisotropic materials
Chapter 23 Laser optics I. Paraxial wave equation and paraxial spherical waves
Chapter 24 Laser optics II. Gaussian beam focusing and optical cavities
Chapter 25 Exact solutions I. Conducting knife edge
Chapter 26 Exact solutions II. Infinite slit
Biography
N. E. “Gene” Bickers is Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California, USA. He earned his doctorate in Physics from Cornell University in 1986. He was a faculty member in the USC Department of Physics and Astronomy from 1988 until his retirement in 2023. His research specialty is theoretical condensed matter physics, in particular, phase transitions and electron transport properties in narrow-band metals. His work on high-temperature cuprate superconductivity includes the first correct prediction of the symmetry of the superconducting wave function in 1987. Bickers served as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Programs at USC from 2005 to 2016. He was a member of the inaugural cohort of Faculty Fellows in the USC Center for Excellence In Teaching (CET) during 1997–2000 and has received numerous awards for his teaching in both undergraduate and graduate courses.
