Progress in optics. Volume 40

Hardbound. The publication of volume forty of Progress in Optics marks a significant milestone. Volume one was published in 1961, a year after the invention of the laser, an event which triggered a wealth of new and exciting developments. Many of them have been reported in the 234 review articles published in this series since its inception. The present volume contains six review articles on a variety of subjects of current research interests. The first is concerned with polarimetric optical fibers and sensors, and reviews the main efforts and achievements in this field within the last two decades. The second article presents a review of recent researches on digital optical computing. After introducing the basic concepts needed for understanding the developments in this field, some feasibility experiments as well as software studies are discussed. The next article deals largely with photodetection from the standpoint of the theory of Content: Editorial Board Page ii Preface Pages v-vi Emil Wolf I Polarimetric optical fibers and sensors Original Research Article Pages 1-75 Tomasz R. Woliński II Digital optical computing Original Research Article Pages 77-114 Jun Tanida, Yoshiki Ichioka III Continuous measurements in quantum optics Original Research Article Pages 115-269 V. Peřinová, A. Lukš IV Optical systems with improved resolving power Original Research Article Pages 271-341 Zeev Zalevsky, David Mendlovic, Adolf W. Lohmann V Diffractive optics: Electromagnetic approach Original Research Article Pages 343-388 Jari Turunen, Markku Kuittinen, Frank Wyrowski VI Spectroscopy in polychromatic fields Original Research Article Pages 389-441 Zbigniew Ficek, Helen S. Freedhoff Author index for volume XL Pages 443-456 Subject index for volume XL Pages 457-459 Contents of previous volumes Pages 461-469 Cumulative index-volumes I–XL Pages 471-480 The phenomenon of polarization was discovered by Huyghens in 1690 by passing light through two calcite crystals, and only in 1808 Malus passed partially reflected light through a calcite crystal and found that it was polarized (Born and Wolf [1993]).