From Millisecond to Attosecond Laser Pulses
A historical overview is presented of the experimental development of ever shorter laser pulses from 1960 to the present. Already in the early sixties nanosecond pulses were achieved and the entry into the picosecond domain was reached in the late s....
More details | Watch nowFrom Spinwaves to Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR) and Beyond
Standing spinwaves and surface waves in layered magnetic structures can be used for the detection and quantitative evaluation of interlayer exchange coupling (IEC). Using this method antiferromagnetic IEC has been found in Fe/Cr/Fe layered structure....
More details | Watch nowModel Synthesis for Ceramics: Superconductors, Magnets and Others
The discovery of superconductivity in hole doped La2CuO4 was motivated by the interest to find this phenomenon in an oxide. After the discovery near 35 K, copper oxides with transition temperatures of up to 131 K at normal pressure were found, i.e.....
More details | Watch nowThe Fresnel Lens
Early lighthouses used coil and wood fires before moving on to gas and then electricity powered lights. Massive improvements took place by using a lens system around the light. The development of the Fresnel lens brought what we now regard as the....
More details | Watch nowThe eye and colour vision
The physics of the eye, its performance and colour vision: refraction and accommodation; photoreceptors and resolution; compromises in visual performance.
More details | Watch nowGeometrical optics
On scales much bigger than the wavelength, rays explain the behaviour of interfaces, mirrors, lenses, optical instruments, including telescopes and microscopes.
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White light comprises colours in the visible spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum. Speed of light. Young's experiment and waves. Quanta and photons.
More details | Watch nowHuman Sound
Sound is produced in the larynx; filtering it in the vocal tract produces formants and phonemes. The acoustics, mechanics and some neurobiology of hearing. Pitch perception.
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Reflecting waves gives standing waves, which can be resonances. Standing waves on strings and in pipes and plates.
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Superposing waves with different frequencies gives beats and Tartini tones. Removing beats gives consonance. Tuning consonances gives temperament.
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Frequency, amplitude, envelope and spectrum affect pitch, loudness and timbre. All are discussed and quantified here.
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Moving either source or receiver produces a frequency shift called the Doppler effect, which we measure and analyse.
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