Abstract : We show how energy flow lines answer the question about diffraction phenomena posed in 1818 by the French Academy: "Deduce by mathematical induction the movements of the rays during their crossing near the bodies." The use of energy flow lines provides a complementary answer to Fresnel's wave theory of light. A numerical simulation of the energy flow lines shows that they can reach the bright spot of Poisson-Arago in the shadow center of a circular opaque disk. For a monochromatic wave in vacuum, these energy flow lines correspond to the diffracted rays of Newton's Opticks.
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Submitted on : Friday, May 16, 2014 - 3:33:27 PM Last modification on : Thursday, December 3, 2020 - 3:42:07 PM Long-term archiving on: : Saturday, August 16, 2014 - 10:40:58 AM
Michel Gondran, Alexandre Gondran. Energy flow lines and the spot of Poisson-Arago. American Journal of Physics, American Association of Physics Teachers, 2010, 78 (6), pp 598-602. ⟨10.1119/1.3291215⟩. ⟨hal-00934546⟩