Concept information
Preferred term
Fermat's principle
Definition(s)
- Fermat's principle, also known as the principle of least time, is the link between ray optics and wave optics. 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. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat%27s_principle)
Broader concept(s)
Synonym(s)
- principal of least time
In other languages
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French
URI
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-G9NL06W0-Z
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