Why is the central fringe the brightest in diffraction patterns?

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The central fringe in diffraction patterns is brighter than other fringes due to the greater number of available scattering paths from the source. This results in a higher probability of photons being scattered at the central maximum, leading to increased brightness. The phenomenon is tied to the simplicity of the path combinations that contribute to the central maximum. Understanding this concept may require mathematical explanations for deeper insight. Overall, the central fringe's brightness is fundamentally linked to the physics of light scattering.
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The question is rather simple...

Why is the central fringe brighter in diffraction?
 
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Brighter than what? The other fringes?

The brightness depends on the number of photons scattered from the location (or the electric field incident).
This depends on things like the available paths.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/phyopt/mulslid.html
... basically the central maximum involves the simplest combination of paths - so they are more likely to be taken, so more photons per unit time get scattered.

The details depend on the level you want the answer at.
I suspect this will be hard to describe without math.
 

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