Abstract

In a ray trace calculation of the rms radius of the spot formed in the image plane of an optical system by a point source object, a decision must be made as to how many rays will be traced to obtain the result. As the number of rays is increased, the rms spot radius is generally found to decrease, apparently approaching a definite lower limit as the number of rays becomes very large. This paper examines the question of how many rays must be traced and what their geometrical distribution within the aperture should be to approach the limiting value of the rms spot radius for an infinite number of rays within an accuracy of approximately 1%.

© 1974 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
OSA Recommended Articles
Evaluating rms spot radii by ray tracing

T. Brender Andersen
Appl. Opt. 21(7) 1241-1248 (1982)

Evaluating rms spot radii by ray tracing: errata

T. Brender Andersen
Appl. Opt. 21(18) 3237-3237 (1982)

Design and analysis of a two-channel three-mirror x-ray telescope

Abd M. Kassim and David L. Shealy
Appl. Opt. 23(16) 2697-2701 (1984)

More Recommended Articles

References

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Citation lists with outbound citation links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access OSA Member Subscription

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access OSA Member Subscription

Figures (3)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access OSA Member Subscription

Tables (3)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article tables are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access OSA Member Subscription

Equations (4)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Equations are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access OSA Member Subscription

Metrics

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article level metrics are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access OSA Member Subscription