Paper detail

Is $n\sinθ$ conserved along light path?

Snell's law states that the quantity $n\sinθ$ is unchanged in refraction of light passing from one medium to another. We inquire whether this is true in the general case where the speed of light varies continuously within a medium. It turns out to be an instructive exercise in application of Snell's law and Fermat's principle. It also provides good pedagogical problems in calculus of variations to deal with the subtleties of a variable domain of integration and inclusion of constraints. The final result of these exercises is that, contrary to an initial expectation, the answer to the question in the title is negative.

preprint2016arXivOpen access
0citations
0reviews
0saves
Nocode
Nodataset
0institutions

Next steps

Decide what to do with this paper

Use like or dislike for the fast social read. The more specific scholarly feedback stays available below when needed.

Log in to curate

Reading frame

Keep the important context close to the paper

Keep the important signals around this paper in one place: votes, save state, collection context, reviews and the metadata you need before deciding what to do next.

Institutions

Add specific reaction

Move through the context

Research map

Open full explorer

Move through nearby people, institutions, topics and adjacent work without leaving the paper page.

Building this graph slice

BZPEER is loading the nearby papers, people, topics and institutions for this page.

Structured reviews

0 review(s)

ContributeLeave structured feedbackUse the review template when you have a concrete strength, concern or method question.Open review form

No structured reviews yet. High-signal critique starts here.

Work discussion

0 comment(s)

DiscussAdd a high-signal commentKeep quick notes, caveats and replication pointers separate from formal reviews.Open comment form

No discussion yet. The first strong comment sets the tone.