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This third volume of the series Lectures in Optics provides a comprehensive presentation of the wave optics effects. The arguments underlying the concept of light—as either a wave or a particle—were part of the greatest revolution in physics, which, in the early 20th century, bore modern quantum and atomic optics. These fundamental advances set the stage for a crucial outcome, the laser. Many aspects of optics are strongly dependent on light's wave nature, including polarization (owing to the vector nature of light), absorption and dispersion (owing to the complex nature of the refractive index and the quantum nature of the photon), as well as interference and diffraction. The latter two effects are perhaps the greatest manifestations of the wave nature of light and provide an excellent demonstration of the power and simplicity of Fourier optics. After covering all of these effects in detail, Wave Optics introduces the concepts involved in laser light and its applications, engaging a historical and didactic approach. This book is suitable for advanced levels of Wave Optics courses in physics and engineering curricula, graduate programs, and professional programs, including optometric education. Each chapter ends with a simple yet adequate summary of the main points, aiming to reinforce an understanding of the covered material. Self-assessment is facilitated by ample practice examples, exercises, and quizzes. The other published volumes in the series Lectures in Optics are Introduction to Optics Geometrical Optics Visual Optics

A pulse of light spreads in time as it propagates in a fiber due to the physical phenomenon called dispersion. While dispersion can be deleterious in optical communications systems, it can also be exploited to manage the temporal and spectral shapes of pulses and their interactions with other pulses. Much of dispersion control is realized in optical communications systems with discrete devices – the so-called dispersion compensators, and almost all commercially deployed dispersion compensators today are based on specially designed fibers. This book addresses various aspects of this device technology, such as the physics of optical dispersive effects, the design philosophy and properties of devices deployed in optical networks today, futuristic devices utilizing novel fibers, and their systems level impact. Written by leaders in the field drawn from both academia and industry, this book serves as a comprehensive introduction to the topic of dispersion management of light for graduate students and applications engineers. Since each chapter provides a detailed description of the state-of-the-art in each technological platform, this book also serves as a practical reference for industry experts tasked with designing next generation optical networks.

This book contains a series of tutorial essays on polarization mode dispersion (PMD) by the leading experts in the field. It starts with an introductory review of the basic concepts and continues with more advanced topics, including a thorough review of PMD mitigation techniques. Topics covered include mathematical representation of PMD, how to properly model PMD in numerical simulations, how to accurately measure PMD and other related polarization effects, and how to infer fiber properties from polarization measurements. It includes discussions of other polarization effects such as polarization-dependent loss and the interaction of PMD with fiber nonlinearity. It additionally covers systems issues like the impact of PMD on wavelength division multiplexed systems. This book is intended for research scientists or engineers who wish to become familiar with PMD and its system impacts.