Poisson spot

E23540

diffraction phenomenon optical phenomenon

Poisson spot is a bright point of light that appears at the center of the shadow of a circular object due to wave diffraction, providing striking evidence for the wave nature of light.

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Observed surface forms (5)

Surface form	Occurrences
Arago spot	1
Arago–Poisson spot	1
Fresnel bright spot	1
Poisson’s spot	1
Young's double-slit experiment	1

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	diffraction phenomenon ⓘ optical phenomenon ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Poisson spot ⓘ surface form: Arago spot Poisson spot ⓘ surface form: Fresnel bright spot
appearsFor	circular disks ⓘ spherical obstacles ⓘ
appearsIn	geometrical shadow region ⓘ
canBeObservedIn	X-rays ⓘ matter waves ⓘ visible light ⓘ
causedBy	wave diffraction ⓘ
challenged	Newtonian corpuscular theory of light ⓘ
dependsOn	diameter of the circular obstacle ⓘ distance between obstacle and observation screen ⓘ wavelength of light ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	Poisson spot ⓘ surface form: Arago–Poisson spot
hasAlternativeSpelling	Poisson spot self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Poisson’s spot
hasCategory	physical optics ⓘ wave optics ⓘ
hasDiscoveryContext	Fresnel diffraction theory ⓘ surface form: Fresnel–Poisson diffraction experiment
hasEffect	central bright fringe in shadow pattern ⓘ
hasHistoricalSignificance	confirmation of Fresnel's wave theory of light ⓘ
hasIntensity	maximum at the shadow center ⓘ
hasMathematicalDescription	Bessel function intensity distribution ⓘ
hasPhysicalNature	bright point of light ⓘ
isExampleOf	constructive interference in a shadow region ⓘ
isExplainedBy	Huygens–Fresnel principle ⓘ
isNamedAfter	Siméon Denis Poisson ⓘ
isObservedWith	laser light ⓘ sunlight under suitable conditions ⓘ
isPredictedBy	wave theory of light ⓘ
isRelatedTo	Airy disk ⓘ Babinet's principle ⓘ Fraunhofer diffraction ⓘ Fresnel diffraction theory ⓘ surface form: Fresnel diffraction interference of light waves ⓘ
isUsedIn	demonstrations of wave–particle duality ⓘ optics education experiments ⓘ
occursAt	center of the shadow of a circular object ⓘ
providesEvidenceFor	wave nature of light ⓘ
requires	approximately monochromatic light ⓘ coherent illumination ⓘ opaque circular obstacle ⓘ
requiresCondition	far-field or near-field diffraction geometry depending on setup ⓘ obstacle size comparable to several wavelengths ⓘ
wasExperimentallyConfirmedBy	Hippolyte Fizeau ⓘ surface form: François Arago

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Poisson spot → alsoKnownAs → Poisson spot ⓘ

this entity surface form: Arago spot

Poisson spot → alsoKnownAs → Poisson spot ⓘ

this entity surface form: Fresnel bright spot

Huygens–Fresnel principle → explains → Poisson spot ⓘ

wave theory of light → explains → Poisson spot ⓘ

this entity surface form: Young's double-slit experiment

Poisson spot → hasAlternativeName → Poisson spot ⓘ

this entity surface form: Arago–Poisson spot

Poisson spot → hasAlternativeSpelling → Poisson spot self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Poisson’s spot