The subject of the book is fully reflected in the content. The statistical properties of light and its spectral representation are illuminated in more detail than usual. Light diffraction is described within the framework of the Kirchhoff integral. The effectiveness of matrix methods is shown in the sections devoted to geometric optics and light interference in thin films. To describe the diffraction theory of image formation, spatial image filtering, holography and other related topics, a unified approach was adopted, including Fourier optics. The analysis of partial coherence and partial polarization is carried out in terms of the first correlation function. The mathematical aspect of the material presented in this book was simplified as much as possible and at the same time corresponded to a strict scientific approach.
The most important aspect in which this book differs from the books on mechanics, molecular physics and electricity is that its basic principles go beyond the scope of this course. Because of this, considerable emphasis was placed on the deductive method of description. Therefore, the material of this course
It is presented in a deductive form, and in most cases (although not always) experimental results are analyzed to show the correspondence between theoretical results and experimental data or to explain the observed phenomena. The book is based on the author's many years of experience teaching physics at the Faculty of Physics of Lomonosov Moscow State University.