Reddit mentions: The best optical physics books

We found 14 Reddit comments discussing the best optical physics books. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 11 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

1. Optical Resonance and Two-Level Atoms (Dover Books on Physics)

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Optical Resonance and Two-Level Atoms (Dover Books on Physics)
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Height8.46 Inches
Length5.41 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateDecember 1987
Weight0.55 Pounds
Width0.5 Inches
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4. Mounting Optics in Optical Instruments, 2nd Edition (SPIE Press Monograph Vol. PM181)

Mounting Optics in Optical Instruments, 2nd Edition (SPIE Press Monograph Vol. PM181)
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Length7.25 Inches
Weight3.8 Pounds
Width2.25 Inches
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5. Introductory Quantum Optics

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Introductory Quantum Optics
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Height9.69 Inches
Length7.44 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateNovember 2004
Weight1.3007273458 Pounds
Width0.75 Inches
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6. Optics (5th Edition)

Optics (5th Edition)
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Height11 Inches
Length8.7 Inches
Number of items1
Weight0.35494424182 Pounds
Width1.2 Inches
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7. Principles of Nano-Optics

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Principles of Nano-Optics
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Length7.5 Inches
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Weight3.1305641204 Pounds
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8. Introduction to Quantum Optics: From the Semi-classical Approach to Quantized Light

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Introduction to Quantum Optics: From the Semi-classical Approach to Quantized Light
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Length8 Inches
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Weight3.5935348706 Pounds
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9. The Geometrical Optics Workbook

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The Geometrical Optics Workbook
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Height11 inches
Length8.5 inches
Number of items1
Release dateMay 1991
Weight1.36025215654 pounds
Width0.5 inches
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10. Matters of Light and Depth: Creating Memorable Images for Video, Film, and Stills Through Lighting

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Matters of Light and Depth: Creating Memorable Images for Video, Film, and Stills Through Lighting
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Height9.25 Inches
Length9 Inches
Number of items1
Weight1.5 Pounds
Width0.75 Inches
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11. Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics

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Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics
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Length7 Inches
Number of items1
Weight4.42688222096 Pounds
Width2.44 Inches
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🎓 Reddit experts on optical physics books

The comments and opinions expressed on this page are written exclusively by redditors. To provide you with the most relevant data, we sourced opinions from the most knowledgeable Reddit users based the total number of upvotes and downvotes received across comments on subreddits where optical physics books are discussed. For your reference and for the sake of transparency, here are the specialists whose opinions mattered the most in our ranking.
Total score: 6
Number of comments: 1
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 5
Number of comments: 2
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Total score: 5
Number of comments: 1
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Total score: 1
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Total score: 1
Number of comments: 1
Relevant subreddits: 1

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Top Reddit comments about Optics for Physics:

u/mrcmnstr · 4 pointsr/Physics

I'm rather surprised you would be tackling the optical Bloch equations as a sophomore. The material doesn't seem appropriate prior to at least introductory courses in quantum mechanics and electromagnetism. The best book I know of on the topic is called Optical Resonance and Two-Level Atoms by Allen and Eberly. You can pick it up for less than $15 if your library doesn't have a copy. It isn't really geared for undergraduate reading, but the first few chapters have a pretty good intro to the theory.

It's a pretty deep hole you're jumping into though and I would suggest you limit the scope of your studying by talking to your research adviser about what exactly it is you need to know. Hopefully they can help guide you and keep you from getting too overwhelmed. Hope that helps. Good luck!

u/katslefty · 5 pointsr/Optics

Hi, I'm very pleased to hear that you are interested in lens design and optics. Although I think I'd be able to help you out more if I knew your motivation and end goals, here are a few suggestions:

For books, I recommend two. First, Field Guide to Lens Design by Bently/Olson if you're just starting out, it is not math heavy and cheaper than most textbooks.
https://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Design-Press-Guides/dp/0819491640/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487712393&sr=8-1&keywords=field+guide+to+lens+design

Another book, Field Guide to Geometrical Optics by Greivenkamp if you're willing to put in the math and learn the theory. It's still a simple book though, I'm a lens designer and I use the book regularly because it is a great reference.
https://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Geometrical-Optics-SPIE/dp/0819452947/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487712411&sr=8-1&keywords=field+guide+to+geometrical+optics

If you want Videos, the Youtube channel Optics Realm are thorough. Skip the Zemax tutorial and go to the Optics tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/opticsrealm

And finally, there is a great set of slides at slideshare. However, some things may be lost if you don't have Dave speaking to you.
http://www.slideshare.net/operacrazy/camera-lens-talk

Good luck learning, and don't hesitate to ask me for follow-up. Like I said at the beginning, I think I can help you out more if you can tell me: why did get interested in lens design? And what's your end goal after learning?

u/BDube_Lensman · 2 pointsr/photography

If you use 3/4 Nyquist it is indeed correct that it won't be monotonic - this is the weakness of single points on the curve of a function trying to convey all of the necessary information. On the other hand, if you're curious what's going on at very fine scales - the place to look /is/ what's going on near Nyquist. Even if there are nonidealities. And you can design a metric that glosses those over, for example integrating between (say) 3/4 and Nyquist, which would be much better conditioned. The wider the bandwidth the better conditioned it is, until you just end up at SQF.

If you want to capture "sharpness," it really is optimal to just use SQF. Perceptual sharpness was simply figured out a long time ago. Hultgren's modified SQF is superior to the original, in my opinion.

The more complicated behavior I can't help you with (perhaps look in my two reference books on this topic...)

https://www.amazon.com/Modeling-Imaging-Digital-Tutorial-Engineering/dp/0819483397/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=remote+sensing+image+chain&qid=1564974865&s=gateway&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Remote-Sensing-Image-Chain-Approach/dp/0195178173/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=remote+sensing+image+chain&qid=1564974865&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Composites of smear and jitter are easy to model (even multiple smears) - just convolve several jitters or smears together with the .conv syntax. If you want to learn prysm, I would recommend keeping an eye on the v0.17 release notes. This release is due in the next little while (a few weeks, probably) and will break a lot of way the library was used in <= v0.16 to reduce the amount of vocabulary you need to know to use the library.

u/ReallyJadedEngineer · 2 pointsr/AskEngineers

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Optical-System-Layout-Lenses/dp/0070592543/ref=sr_1_38?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412189035&sr=1-38&keywords=optical+engineer

http://www.amazon.com/Mounting-Optics-Optical-Instruments-Monograph/dp/0819471291/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412189080&sr=1-1&keywords=optical+mount

http://www.amazon.com/An-Introduction-Fiber-Optic-Systems/dp/0256204144/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412191897&sr=8-1&keywords=introduction+to+fiber+optic+systems

The first book will only give you a half decent understanding of lens system, and the second book will tell you how to design mounts so you don't screw up the lenses/are able to adjust them. The third book talks about fiber optic systems in general.

You can probably get 100% of the parts you need off of Thorlabs.

I guess if you do some hand calculation and a bright laser, you can finagle your way through to get a system set up. But something that you have to remember is that in optics, your tolerances are within micrometers (which isn't easily achievable by machines). So distance becomes a huge problem, especially when we're talking about columnated beams (or freespace systems).

I know this is an easy job to do in Zemax and should only take half a day. Seems like a simple, fiber --> lens --> lens --> fiber setup. But putting it together will be difficult. It is my suggestion that you find someone to either build this system for you or at the very least, find an optical alignment technician to do the alignment for you.

Without knowing too much about what you're trying to achieve (especially in regards to sheer size, light source, and what you're trying to collect), this is the best advice I can give.

u/mablap · 6 pointsr/Physics

Look honey if you don't understand any of this don't bother, you'll never make it.


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Hey just kidding, best of luck. You really have to practice and read and read and read, you'll get it someday. I want to do some research on light-matter interaction and I'm reading this book at the moment. I suggest you read chapters 2 and 4, they offer a nice discussion.

u/UglyMousanova19 · 2 pointsr/Physics

I used Eugene Hecht's "Optics" for an optics course I took last year and enjoyed it quite a lot. It's a great self-contained source for both geometric and physical optics and is comprehensive enough to cover anything you might run into on the GRE.

Only downside is that it is a bit expensive.

u/dinoalt · 3 pointsr/photography

Quite a few:

Distagon

Tessar

Planar

DoF and Bokeh

Distortion

MTF1

MTF2

EF Lens Works III

Opticampus

I first got this book used for $20, it's old but very little if anything in it has changed as far as I can find. I have since acquired this book, but I have not finished it.

----

I read, a lot. I will be the best one day and I will not accept failure. This is just part of that journey.

u/takiotoshi · 2 pointsr/askscience

Can you get through a paywall?

Here is a tutorial on optical antennas. Pretty nice, if I do say so myself ;)

Jackson's electrodynamics has a chapter on the dielectric response of metals. Chapter 7, section 5. "Frequency dispersion characteristics of dielectrics, conductors, and plasmas."

Novotny's nano optics book has a brief review of dielectric response, and talks a lot about the antenna analogy.

u/seasidesarawack · 1 pointr/Physics

My QO course is using Introduction to Quantum Optics by Grynberg, Aspect & Fabre (with a foreword by Cohen-Tannoudji). So far I'm finding it to be extremely clear and well-organized. It's divided in two parts: the first half deals with semiclassical QO, and the second with actual quantum light.

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/Physics

Heh, I was in a similar situation. Thrown right in to quantum optics without any quantum mechanics course or advanced E & M. Anyhow, I second the recommendation of Allen & Eberly; it was the book I used as an introduction to the topic after a crash course in the necessary QM and E & M. You should get a copy of Zetilli's Quantum Mechanics and Landau & Lifshitz Volume 8 (and/or Jackson if you're brave) for this. I also recommend Chapters 15 and 16 of Mandel & Wolf's Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics.

u/solar_realms_elite · 2 pointsr/Physics