- #1
genxium
- 141
- 2
I read this from a lecture note(attached) of Geometric Optics. It's said that the eikonal equation for light rays [itex]\frac{d}{ds}(n(\vec{r})\frac{d\vec{r}}{ds})=\frac{\partial n}{\partial \vec{r}}[/itex] is analogous to Newton's Law, however it doesn't tell which Newton's Law is referred to. (In the equation, [itex]\vec{r}[/itex] is position vector, [itex]s[/itex] is the raw path length, [itex]n[/itex] is the refractive index).
The equation can be rewritten to [itex]\frac{d^2\vec{r}}{d\sigma^2}=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\partial n^2}{\partial \vec{r}}[/itex] where [itex]d\sigma=n^{-1}ds[/itex]. It's actually the rewritten equation that is said to be analogous to Newton's Law, but I have no idea how to interpret it.
The equation can be rewritten to [itex]\frac{d^2\vec{r}}{d\sigma^2}=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\partial n^2}{\partial \vec{r}}[/itex] where [itex]d\sigma=n^{-1}ds[/itex]. It's actually the rewritten equation that is said to be analogous to Newton's Law, but I have no idea how to interpret it.