Appendix I to Ch.

3
The Eikonal Equation in Optics
I. The Eikonal Equation of a Ray
We may apply the Fermat's principle to find the path of
propagation of a light ray. The optical path length propagated by a
ray from point A to point B is given by
Lop
A B
nds. (1)

The ray would follow the path for which Lop is an extremum; i.e.

Lop = nds =0. (2)

A B
Assume n is continuous everywhere, we may define a point
characteristic function L (eikonal) given by the eikonal equation
L
L = n and L = n = net .
2 2
(3)
L
Since for any closed curve containing points A and B we have


 L dr =0.

(4)

We find that for any path from point A to point B, we have

A B
L dr =
A B
L dr . (5)
Path 1 Path 2

If we trace a ray in the direction of L on any point of its

optic path from A to B, we have


A B
L dr =
A B
L ds
Ray ,et Ray ,et


dr

=
A B
nds =
A
B
n dr .
ds
(6)
Ray ,et Ray ,et
We can prove that this path will give a minimum value of Lop since




A B
nds =
A B
L dr =
A
B
L dr
Ray ,et Ray ,et Other Rays

= cos L ds L ds = nds. (7)

A B A B A B
Other Rays Other Rays Other Rays

Eq. (7) tells us that if the ray propagates along a path in the
direction of L (i.e., e t ), its optic path-length will be a minimum
in accordance with the Fermats principle.
We therefore show that the ray path will follow Eq. (3)
the eikonal equation.
 To obtain the ray equation of optics, we differentiate the
eikonal equation after the path. Thereby we apply
d
= et
ds
and obtain
d 1 1 1
L = ( et ) L = ( L ) L = ( L ) = n 2 .
2
(8)
ds n 2n 2n

Thus we obtain the ray equation

d d dr
n = L = n . [Ray Equation] (9)
ds ds ds


The physical ray path will be described byr from solving Eq. (9).
Example: Fata Morgana (Mirage)
As a short example we will treat reflection at a hot film of air
near the ground, which induces a decrease in air density and
thereby a reduction of the refractive index.
We may assume in good approximation that for calm air the
index of refraction increases with distance y from the bottom (see
Fig. E1), e.g. n(y)=n0(1ey). Since the effect is small, 1 is
valid in general, while the scale length is of the order = 1 m1.
We apply the ray equation for all individual components of


r = ( x, y ( x)).
We find
d dx dx
n = 0 n = C. [x component]
ds ds ds
Similarly, we see the solution for the y coordinate with the aid of
above result and find that

n( y ) d dy d dy dx dx d dy C
= n = n = C
y ds ds dx dx ds ds dx dx n

d dy n( y ) 1 dn 2
C C = n = .
dx dx y 2 dy
We may rescale the x coordinate to adjust the constant C as 1
without loss of generality. Since 1, we get

n = n (1 e
2 2
0 )
y 2
n02 (1 2 e y ) .
Thus
dn 2
2n02 e y .
dy
 Fig. E1
d2y
We find 2
= n0
2
e y
.
dx
This equation can be solved by fundamental methods and it is
convenient to write the solution in the form
y = y0 +

1
{ }
ln cosh 2 ( x x0 ) n02 e y .

= n0 e y / 2
0

2
For large distances from the point of reflection at x=x0 we find
straight propagation as expected.
The maximum angle =tan1(2/) is defined by

= n0 e y /2 .
0

2
As in Fig. E.1 the observer registers two images one of them is
upside down and corresponds to a mirror image. The curvature of
the light rays declines quickly with increasing distance from the
bottom and therefore may be neglected for the 'upper' line of sight.
At (x0, y0) a 'virtual' point of reflection may be defined.
II. The Eikonal Equation as a Consequence of Fermat Principle
We can obtain the ray equation from the Fermat principle by
applying the standard variational principle for light. The Fermat's
principle, states that light will take the path which extremizes the
optical path length from point A to B.

The optical path length is given by

Lop
A B
n(r ( s ))ds, (10)

, where I have indicated the dependence on arc length s.

Following the usual variational approach, we try to find which
path extremizes Lop, i.e.
Lop = nds =0. (11)
A B
We consider varying the path of the light ray with regard to




r (s) r ( s) + r ( s)
with end points fixed. The first order variation in Lop is given
by
Lop = ( n ) ds +n ( ds ) .
A B
(12)

It is important to note that the infinitesimal arc length changes as

well. We can calculate the first n term as
n = ( n ) dr .

Keep only first order terms in r , the variation of arc length
ds is given by




2 dr d r
ds = ( dr + d r ) ( dr ) =


2
ds.
ds ds
We thus obtain the variation of Lop as




dr d r
Lop = n dr + n ds
A B
ds ds


d dr

= n n rds (12)
A B
ds ds

The last equality there follows from an integration by part and

the fact that r
vanishes at the end points. Impose Lop=0 for


arbitrary variations of r , we achieve the extremal path. This
implies that the extremal path satisfies


d dr
n n = 0. [Ray Equation] (13)
ds ds
We propose to define the point characteristic function L (eikonal)
as the physical optical path for a ray to transverse from a point P0
to any point P, that is

L ( P ) L ( P0 ) =
P0 P
n ( r ) ds. (14)




dr

Since

P0 P
n(r )ds = n(r ) dr ,
P0 P
ds


We arrive at

P0 P
L dr = L ( P ) L ( P0 )




dr

= n ( r ) ds = n ( r ) dr , (15)
P0 P P0 P
ds
which yields the relation



dr
L = n(r ) ( )

2 2
and L = n [Eikonal Equation] (16)
ds