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The 58 pages that link to Diffraction, each with the reason it gives.

• WavelengthRelated: Its patterns depend on wavelength relative to obstacle and aperture sizes.

• RefractionCompared with: It redirects waves through spatial spreading, rather than a speed change across materials.

• TelescopeRelated: Diffraction places a fundamental limit on the detail a telescope can resolve.

• Depth of fieldCompared with: Very small apertures increase depth of field but can soften detail through diffraction.

• InterferometryCompared with: Diffraction patterns arise from wave propagation and geometry, not necessarily a comparison of separate measurement paths.

• ScatteringCompared with: Diffraction is a wave phenomenon that can describe scattering from structures comparable to a wavelength.

• Camera obscuraRelated: Very small apertures blur projections through diffraction, limiting how far a pinhole can improve sharpness.

• OpticsRelated: It limits image detail and reveals light's wave behavior.

• SineRelated: Sine functions describe wave phases used to calculate diffraction patterns.

• PhotolithographyRelated: Diffraction blurs mask patterns as light is projected onto resist.

• Snell's lawCompared with: Diffraction changes wave direction through wavefront spreading, not Snell's interface relation.

• Mie scatteringRelated: Forward scattering by large particles includes a strong diffraction contribution.

• Numerical apertureNarrower topic: Numerical aperture predicts resolution because finite apertures cause diffraction.

• Total internal reflectionCompared with: It changes wave propagation through interference rather than complete reflection at an index boundary.

• InterferenceCompared with: Diffraction creates the paths and angular patterns in which interference appears.

• ApertureRelated: At very small apertures, diffraction softens fine image detail.

• Point spread functionRelated: Even a perfect finite-aperture optical system produces a diffraction-broadened PSF.

• Radio propagationRelated: Diffraction lets radio signals reach regions shadowed by buildings, hills, or other obstacles.

• Diffraction gratingNarrower topic: A grating produces its directional beams through interference among diffracted waves.

• Geometrical opticsCompared with: It sets limits on ray predictions near edges and small openings.

• Fermat's principleCompared with: Diffraction produces behavior that geometrical rays and stationary paths alone cannot explain.

• Huygens–Fresnel principleRelated: Interference among secondary waves accounts for diffraction patterns and spreading.

• WavefrontRelated: It changes wavefront shape beyond obstacles and openings.

• Arnold SommerfeldNarrower topic: Sommerfeld developed mathematical methods for diffraction, including the half-plane problem.

• Augustin-Jean FresnelRelated: Fresnel developed mathematical methods for predicting diffraction patterns.

• Confocal microscopyRelated: Diffraction shapes the focal spot and limits the detail confocal microscopy can resolve.

• HolographyNarrower topic: Illumination diffracts from recorded fringes to reconstruct the object wavefront.

• Stealth technologyRelated: Edges and gaps can scatter radar energy, complicating attempts to suppress reflections.

• Corpuscular theory of lightCompared with: Light’s diffraction patterns resisted explanation by corpuscles traveling only in straight lines.

• Dispersion (optics)Compared with: Diffraction can also separate wavelengths, but does not arise from a material’s refractive-index variation.

• Wave theory of lightBroader topic: Light bends around obstacles and spreads through apertures in ways predicted by wave theory.

• Thin-film interferenceCompared with: Both effects create wavelength-dependent patterns, but diffraction arises from wavefront geometry rather than two film boundaries.

• Airy diskNarrower topic: The Airy disk is a characteristic diffraction effect of a circular opening.

• DispersionCompared with: Diffraction spreads waves through geometry, unlike dispersion’s frequency-dependent propagation.

• Double-slit experimentRelated: Each narrow slit spreads the incoming wave before the two contributions overlap.

• Fraunhofer diffractionNarrower topic: Fraunhofer diffraction is the far-field regime of this broader wave phenomenon.

• Light scatteringCompared with: Diffraction and scattering both redistribute light, but diffraction emphasizes wave behavior around boundaries.

• Wave opticsBroader topic: It accounts for light spreading beyond the boundaries predicted by geometric rays.

• Atmospheric opticsRelated: It helps explain corona rings around the Sun or Moon caused by small droplets.

• Multipath propagationRelated: Diffraction can deliver signal energy beyond obstacles along additional paths.

• Newtonian telescopeRelated: It sets a fundamental resolution limit even for a perfectly made primary mirror.

• Parabolic reflectorRelated: Wave diffraction limits the spot size even when the reflector has perfect geometry.

• Spherical aberrationCompared with: Diffraction limits resolution even in an aberration-free optical system.

• Abbe diffraction limitNarrower topic: Diffraction spreads light from each point, limiting how finely an optical system can separate nearby details.

• Fresnel lensCompared with: Unlike geometric refraction, diffraction can limit image sharpness at groove edges.

• Wave interferenceCompared with: Diffraction concerns wave spreading, while interference describes superposition; diffraction patterns arise through interference.

• LabradoriteRelated: Light scattering by internal structures is commonly described in terms of diffraction.

• Moiré patternCompared with: Diffraction arises from wave propagation through apertures, not from overlapping similar patterns.

• Siméon Denis PoissonRelated: The debate over Poisson’s spot helped establish wave diffraction as a testable phenomenon.

• Gaussian beamRelated: A finite Gaussian profile necessarily spreads as it propagates.