Describes a demonstration technique for showing multiple-slit interference patterns with the use of a Fabry-Perot etalon and a laser beam. A simple derivation of the analytical expression for such fringes is presented. (Author/CP)

Describes a simple method, the Edser-Butler methods, for calibrating the Fabry-Pevot fringes seen in the focal plane of a spectrograph. (GA)

A computer program which simulates an interstellar gas and dust cloud has been used to study Kirchhoff's laws of spectral analysis in introductory astronomy courses. The model parameters can be varied to stimulate various effects observed in actual clouds. Students are given exercises to use the program in a manner similar to a lab experiment.…

Describes a technique in which a Fabry-Perot etalon can be used to demonstrate longitudinal and transverse modes present in a laser beam. (Author/CP)

Discusses recent advances in polarization techniques, specifically those dealing with polarization of atomic nuclei, and how polarized beams and targets are produced. These techniques have greatly increased the scope of possible studies, and provided the tools for testing fundamental symmetries and the spin dependence of nuclear forces. (GA)

Describes an experiment for the measurement of the reflectances of dielectric surface. The experiment is analyzed in terms of the Stokes parameters and the Mueller calculus, and Malus law is derived. The experiment also provides an introduction to the properties of real linear polarizers. (Author/GA)

Artists use red, yellow, and blue as primary colors, whereas physicists use red, green, and blue. Explains the reason using the spectra of mixtures of red, green, blue, and yellow tempera obtained with a Carey spectrophotometer. (GA)

Presents a discussion for the principles of a Fourier Transform infrared spectrophotometer which is intended to provide chemists with a basic understanding of these principles. (HM)

Discusses how the frequency domain (line widths) and time domain (coherent optical transients) are related to the concept of transverse relaxation time in the study of high resolution optical spectroscopy. (HM)