| 释义 |
Airy, n. Math. and Physics.|ˈɛərɪ|
[The name of Sir George Biddell Airy (1801–92), English astronomer and physicist.]
Used attrib. and in the possessive to designate concepts introduced by Airy or arising out of his work, as Airy('s) disc [described by Airy in Trans. Cambr. Philos. Soc. (1835) V. 285], the circular diffraction pattern formed when plane light waves pass through a point aperture; the bright central region of this. Airy('s) function, each of the functions satisfying the differential equation d2y/dx2-xy = 0 , which are usually expressed in the form of an indefinite integral. Airy('s) integral = *Airy('s) function above. Airy points, the points along the length of a bar at which it must be supported for the amount of bending (for a given number of points) to be minimized. Airy('s) spiral, each of the spirals of light visible when polarized light which has been passed through two plates of left-handed and right-handed quartz is viewed through crossed Nicol prisms; also, these spirals collectively.
[1889G. M. Hopkins Exper. Sci. xii. 258 By superposing a right hand quartz on a left hand quartz, the beautiful spirals discovered by Airy, and named after their discoverer, may be exhibited.] 1895T. Preston Theory of Light xvii. 447 (heading), 272 Isochromatic lines—Airy's spirals. 1911Proc. R. Soc. A. LXXXV. 441 Now the Airy points of support are so arranged that the ends of the bar are horizontal. 1922G. N. Watson Treat. Theory Bessel Functions vi. 189 The reader will observe that Stokes' differential equation for Airy's integral is identical with one of the transformed forms of Bessel's equation. 1929A. E. Conrady Appl. Optics & Optical Design i. iii. 131 (heading) The Airy spurious disk. 1936H. H. Emsley Visual Optics ii. 42 The sizes of the central Airy disc and surrounding rings can be calculated. 1968IEEE Trans. Antennas & Propagation XVI. 691/1 A more accurate approximation is obtained by replacing spherical Bessel functions..by Hankel functions..or by Airy functions. 1968Jrnl. Photogr. Sci. XVI. 250 The relation of various image properties to the line width and to the aperture of a diffraction-limited lens can be computed from the light distribution in the Airy disk. 1975Bram & Downs Manuf. Technol. i. 24 Supporting at the Airy points will reduce the deflection and out of plane of bar ends. 1983Sci. Amer. Feb. 66/1 The function that describes the relation between the optical length and the transmission of the interferometer (defined as the ratio of the strength of the transmitted beam to that of the incident beam) is called an Airy function and is quite important in the construction of an optical transistor. 1990Jrnl. de Physique LI. 2095 For a quartz plate observed in transmission with a circular analyzer, an Airy spiral with two branches can be observed, whereas Airy spirals with four branches occur if two quartz plates with the same thickness and opposite handedness are observed between crossed linear polarizers. |