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Concept
Fermat's principle
Summary
Fermat's principle, also known as the principle of least time, is the link between ray optics and wave optics. Fermat's principle states that the path taken by a ray between two given points is the path that can be traveled in the least time.
First proposed by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat in 1662, as a means of explaining the ordinary law of refraction of light (Fig. 1), Fermat's principle was initially controversial because it seemed to ascribe knowledge and intent to nature. Not until the 19th century was it understood that nature's ability to test alternative paths is merely a fundamental property of waves. If points A and B are given, a wavefront expanding from A sweeps all possible ray paths radiating from A, whether they pass through B or not. If the wavefront reaches point B, it sweeps not only the ray path(s) from A to B, but also an infinitude of nearby paths with the same endpoints. Fermat's principle describes any ray that happens to reach point B; there is no implication that the ray "knew" the quickest path or "intended" to take that path.
In its original "strong" form, Fermat's principle states that the path taken by a ray between two given points is the path that can be traveled in the least time. In order to be true in all cases, this statement must be weakened by replacing the "least" time with a time that is "stationary" with respect to variations of the path — so that a deviation in the path causes, at most, a second-order change in the traversal time. To put it loosely, a ray path is surrounded by close paths that can be traversed in very close times. It can be shown that this technical definition corresponds to more intuitive notions of a ray, such as a line of sight or the path of a narrow beam.
For the purpose of comparing traversal times, the time from one point to the next nominated point is taken as if the first point were a point-source. Without this condition, the traversal time would be ambiguous; for example, if the propagation time from P to P′ were reckoned from an arbitrary wavefront W containing P (Fig.
Official source
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