Abstract
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses two-beam interferometry, which is a major method of experimental optics that has considerably progressed both in techniques and in fields of application. Concurrently with these practical advances, the relevant theory, that of partial coherence, is been produced. The phenomenon of interference occurs when light from a source is divided into two beams which later come together again. Only over large regions is the average intensity the sum of the intensities because of each beam; on a smaller scale the beams interfere with each other to give fluctuations of intensity around this sum. The fluctuations appear as the bright and dark bands called interference fringes. This phenomenon has twice played a major role in the development of theoretical optics. Young's observation of the interference from two slits formed the basis of Fresnel's wave theory of light. The measurements made by interferometers fall into two classes: those of the position of interference fringes and those of fringe modulation, visibility, or contrast.
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