Triple

T1249088
Position Surface form Disambiguated ID Type / Status
Subject Snell’s law of refraction E26832 entity
Predicate derivedFrom P909 FINISHED
Object Fermat’s principle of least time
Fermat’s principle of least time is a fundamental variational principle in optics stating that light follows the path that takes the least time, from which many laws of geometrical optics can be derived.
E141903 NE FINISHED

How this triple was built (4 steps)

Every LLM step that produced this triple, in pipeline order — named-entity classification, the disambiguation choices (the exact options shown, with the pick highlighted), and the generated description. The batch + timestamp of each is in the Provenance table below.

NER Named-entity recognition gpt-5-mini
Instruction
Given a phrase, classify it is english named entity (e.g., persons, organizations, works of art) in Latin script, or not (e.g., literals, dates, URLs, verbose phrases). For disambiguation, the statement where the phrase occurs as object is also given. Please return a JSON object with `phrase` (string, the phrase being analyzed) and `is_ne` (boolean, indicating whether the phrase is a Named Entity).
Input
Phrase: Fermat’s principle of least time | Statement: [Snell’s law of refraction, derivedFrom, Fermat’s principle of least time]
NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Fermat’s principle of least time
Context triple: [Snell’s law of refraction, derivedFrom, Fermat’s principle of least time]
  • A. Huygens–Fresnel principle
    The Huygens–Fresnel principle is a fundamental concept in wave optics that explains how every point on a wavefront acts as a source of secondary wavelets whose interference determines the wave’s subsequent propagation and diffraction.
  • B. Principles of Optics
    Principles of Optics is a seminal textbook that rigorously develops the theory of electromagnetic waves and optical phenomena, profoundly shaping modern physical optics.
  • C. Kirchhoff diffraction theory
    Kirchhoff diffraction theory is a classical wave optics framework that models light propagation and diffraction by treating wavefronts as superpositions of secondary spherical waves emitted from an aperture.
  • D. Snell’s law of refraction
    Snell’s law of refraction is a fundamental principle in optics that relates the angles of incidence and refraction to the refractive indices of two media, governing how light bends when passing between them.
  • E. Traité de la lumière
    Traité de la lumière is a seminal 1690 scientific treatise that presents Christiaan Huygens’ wave theory of light, including the principle now known as Huygens’ principle.
  • F. None of above. chosen
  • G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NEDg Description generation gpt-5.1
Instruction
Generate a one-sentence description of the target entity. 
You are given a context triple in the form (subject, predicate, object), where the object is the target entity. 
# Instructions
Use the triple to infer relevant information about the entity. Describe the entity based on what is most defining, well-known. 
Avoid repeating the information from the triple, unless really essential.
# Response Format
Return only the sentence: "Description: [one-sentence description of the target entity]"
Input
Entity: Fermat’s principle of least time
Triple: [Snell’s law of refraction, derivedFrom, Fermat’s principle of least time]
Generated description
Fermat’s principle of least time is a fundamental variational principle in optics stating that light follows the path that takes the least time, from which many laws of geometrical optics can be derived.
NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Fermat’s principle of least time
Target entity description: Fermat’s principle of least time is a fundamental variational principle in optics stating that light follows the path that takes the least time, from which many laws of geometrical optics can be derived.
  • A. Huygens–Fresnel principle
    The Huygens–Fresnel principle is a fundamental concept in wave optics that explains how every point on a wavefront acts as a source of secondary wavelets whose interference determines the wave’s subsequent propagation and diffraction.
  • B. Principles of Optics
    Principles of Optics is a seminal textbook that rigorously develops the theory of electromagnetic waves and optical phenomena, profoundly shaping modern physical optics.
  • C. Kirchhoff diffraction theory
    Kirchhoff diffraction theory is a classical wave optics framework that models light propagation and diffraction by treating wavefronts as superpositions of secondary spherical waves emitted from an aperture.
  • D. Snell’s law of refraction
    Snell’s law of refraction is a fundamental principle in optics that relates the angles of incidence and refraction to the refractive indices of two media, governing how light bends when passing between them.
  • E. Traité de la lumière
    Traité de la lumière is a seminal 1690 scientific treatise that presents Christiaan Huygens’ wave theory of light, including the principle now known as Huygens’ principle.
  • F. None of above. chosen

Provenance (5 batches)

The batch behind each pipeline step, in order, with when it ran. Timestamps are batch-level — stages were processed in waves, so the object chain (NER → NED1 → NEDg → NED2) reads in order, but predicate / elicitation batches can sit in a different wave.

Step Stage Batch ID Status When
creating Elicitation batch_69a49487a9c48190ba9b05348fd1b53f completed March 1, 2026, 7:33 p.m.
NER Named-entity recognition batch_69a4bf83b32c81908648e5748b897247 completed March 1, 2026, 10:36 p.m.
NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) batch_69ac8f7f59148190a9f1cbd4af8a115e completed March 7, 2026, 8:50 p.m.
NEDg Description generation batch_69ac8ff7ae0c81908ca8ace1f4159383 completed March 7, 2026, 8:52 p.m.
NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) batch_69ac905e121c819093c9d960b53a45b7 completed March 7, 2026, 8:53 p.m.
Created at: March 1, 2026, 7:47 p.m.