Poisson spot

E23540

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.

All labels observed (7)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf diffraction phenomenon
optical phenomenon
alsoKnownAs Arago spot
linked to: Poisson spot

Fresnel bright spot
linked to: Poisson 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 Arago–Poisson spot
linked to: Poisson spot
hasAlternativeSpelling Poisson’s spot
linked to: Poisson spot
hasCategory physical optics
wave optics
hasDiscoveryContext 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
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 François Arago
linked to: Hippolyte Fizeau

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

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

Poisson spot alsoKnownAs Arago spot
linked to: Poisson spot
Poisson spot alsoKnownAs Fresnel bright spot
linked to: Poisson spot
Poisson spot hasAlternativeSpelling Poisson’s spot
linked to: Poisson spot
Poisson spot hasAlternativeName Arago–Poisson spot
linked to: Poisson spot
wave theory of light explains Young's double-slit experiment
linked to: Poisson spot
François Arago notableWork Arago spot (Poisson spot) in diffraction
linked to: Poisson spot