Geometric optics

Geometrical optics, or ray optics, describes light propagation in terms of rays. The ray in geometric optics is an abstraction, or instrument, useful in approximating the paths along which light propagates in certain classes of circumstances.

The simplifying assumptions of geometrical optics include that light rays:

Geometrical optics does not account for certain optical effects such as diffraction and interference. This simplification is useful in practice; it is an excellent approximation when the wavelength is small compared to the size of structures with which the light interacts. The techniques are particularly useful in describing geometrical aspects of imaging, including optical aberrations.

A light ray is a line or curve that is perpendicular to the light's wavefronts (and is therefore with the wave vector).

A slightly more rigorous definition of a light ray follows from Fermat's principle, which states that the path taken between two points by a ray of light is the path that can be traversed in the least time.

Geometrical optics is often simplified by making the paraxial approximation, or "small angle approximation." The mathematical behavior then becomes linear, allowing optical components and systems to be described by simple matrices. This leads to the techniques of Gaussian optics and paraxial ray tracing, which are used to find basic properties of optical systems, such as approximate image and object positions and magnifications.

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