Abstract

Ray matrices for rays whose directions are close to that of a base ray that can be any general skew ray are derived and examined. The derivation starts with Hamilton's characteristic function; the resulting refraction matrix has a simple interpretation in terms of Coddington's equations. A computer raytracing program is required to provide angles of incidence and refraction and direction cosines for surface normals and ray directions. The derivations and some simple applications will be presented.

© 1990 Optical Society of America