Light Diffraction: Explaining Airy Equation

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The discussion focuses on the derivation of the Airy equation in the context of light diffraction, specifically from the wave equation. The Airy disc represents the diffraction pattern produced by a circular aperture, which is defined using an aperture function in cylindrical coordinates. To obtain the diffraction pattern, the theory of Fraunhofer diffraction is applied, resulting in a 2D Fourier transform of the aperture function. Participants express a need for detailed mathematical derivations and calculations related to this process. The conversation emphasizes the complexity of deriving the Airy equation from the Fourier integral equation.
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What describes Airy equation in theoretical description of light diffraction?
 
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Thank you for your response. I've read this article. But there are no answers for my question.

Writing more precisly. I would like to see derivation from (for instance) wave equation to get Airy equation in a light diffraction problem.
 
To find a diffraction pattern for a given aperture, you need to apply the theory of Fraunhofer diffraction.

To do this, define an aperture function in cylindrical coordinates as follows;

a(r) = 1 for r less than or equal to a.
a(r) = 0 for r greater than a.

Where a is the radius of the aperture.

The resultant diffraction pattern is a 2D Fourier transform of this function (i.e. the Airy function). I'm sure you can find the gory details of this calculation somewhere (or maybe post in the math forums).

Claude.
 
Thank you for your response. I can see that the problem is to get Airy equation from the two dimensional Fourier integral equation. If I have some time I will try to follow the way.
 
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