For ten points, name this central maximum that arises in the diffraction of light about an object with a circular image, named for a French military engineer.
After its namesake won a 1819 prize from the French Academy of Sciences, Sim?n-Denis Poisson noticed that the theories in prize-wining paper clearly implied the existence of this, calling it "a strange result." Poisson, a supporter of the Newtonian model of light, believed that the impossibility of the existence of this would demonstrate that the wave theory of light could not successfully explain diffraction; he was hoisted with his own petard, however, when the prize committee arranged an experiment that clearly demonstrated this to exist. For ten points, name this central maximum that arises in the diffraction of light about an object with a circular image, named for a French military engineer.
After its namesake won a 1819 prize from the French Academy of Sciences, Sim?n-Denis Poisson noticed that the theories in prize-wining paper clearly implied the existence of this, calling it "a strange result.
Fresnel Bright Spot