Optics

The second, revised edition of the basic university textbook, intended mainly for students of general physics, provides a comprehensive overview and interpretation of classical (non-quantum) optics. The book should be a thorough introduction to further study of optics and also a source of information for students who in the future will pursue other disciplines where optics is no longer taught. The text covers not only the usual areas (the electromagnetic nature of light, geometric and instrumental optics, bending and interference of light, coherence of light), but it also includes, even if sometimes only briefly, some topics from more modern optics (Fourier optics, fiber optics, laser physics, nonlinear optics). Compared to the previous edition, the interpretation of Gaussian bundles has been extended and a paragraph introducing the basics of optical spectroscopy has been added.