Assignment 1a
Due date: February 15
1. The idea of duality is rooted in a debate over the nature of light dating back to the 1600s,
when competing theories of light were proposed by Christiaan Huygens and Isaac
Newton. Search the internet and write a short summary/story (max. half page) about
the discovery of wave-particle duality of light.
2. Problems 4.7 on page 152
3. Problem 4.16, 4.17 on page 153
4. Problem 4.23 on Page 153
5. Problem 4.25 on page 153
6. Explain why ground looks like highly reflective mirrors in the pictures shown in last
slide of noteset 2.
7. Explain numerical aperture of an optical waveguide or optical fiber. Prove 𝑁𝑁.𝐴𝐴. =
�𝑛𝑛𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐2− 𝑛𝑛𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 2