II-1 OPTICS and the VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE

II-1  Optics and the Variational Principle

                  II-1-A    Criteria for Evaluating Optical Imaging Systems                                                                                                

                  II-1-B    Evolution of the Variational Principle                                                                                                                        

                  II-1-C    The Variational Principle and Acoustic  Waves

                  II-1-D    Resolving Power of a Lens

                  II-1-E   Amplitude probability:  How does light really decides which path to follow                                       (Reading assignment)

                 Appendix:  The Variational Principle and the Lagrange Equations 
                                          Ray or Geometrical Optics (video)