Problems dealing with this phenomenon in the far-field and near-field limit can be solved by assuming that every point on a wave-front is a source of secondary spherical wavelets, which is part of the Huygens-Fresnel principle.
A theory of this phenomenon uses the Green's function for a unit-amplitude spherical wave expanding about a point and the Helmholtz equation to derive the complex amplitude of the disturbance. The intensity patterns due to this phenomenon are minimally resolvable when their angular separation is 1.22 times lambda over capital D, which is the Rayleigh criterion. Problems dealing with this phenomenon in the far-field and near-field limit can be solved by assuming that every point on a wave-front is a source of secondary spherical wavelets, which is part of the Huygens-Fresnel principle. Interference and this phenomenon cause minima and maxima to appear in Young's double slit experiment. For 10 points, name this optical phenomenon in which light bends around an object.
A theory of this phenomenon uses the Green's function for a unit-amplitude spherical wave expanding about a point and the Helmholtz equation to derive the complex amplitude of the disturbance.
diffraction [prompt on interference]