What is Etendue, and Why is It Important?

Hosted By: NonImaging Optical Design Technical Group

17 July 2019 12:00 - 13:00

Eastern Time (US & Canada) (UTC -05:00)

Etendue, and the conservation law it obeys, is probably the most important, most widely quoted and most badly understood quantity in illumination optics. In this webinar, the presenter will start with a clear, full explanation of what phase space is, for illumination optics. Rays are points in this 4D phase space, where some key relations are much easier to see and prove than in everyday 3D space: This mathematical "bridge" is an extremely powerful mental tool, helping to understand what light does as it propagates through an optical system.

Etendue, then, is "simply" volume in this 4D phase space. The presenter will show that, under certain circumstances, etendue is indeed conserved. It is the "certain circumstances" part that causes the widespread confusion that most people experience when they start working with etendue. In this webinar, the presenter will clarify precisely under which conditions etendue is conserved, and what happens when these conditions are violated.

Examples throughout the webinar will maintain the connection to real world optical design problems, showing how important and powerful the concept of etendue.

What You Will Learn:

Phase space optics for illumination
Why and what circumstances etendue is conserved
Applying etendue conservation in your life as an optical designer

Who Should Attend:

Engineers and scientists in industry, who focuses on optical design for illumination
Optical Scientists
Students of optics

About the presenter: Julius Muschaweck, Independent Consultant

Julius Muschaweck, a German physicist, has been working on optical design for illumination for over twenty years. After a stay as Visiting Scholar at the University of Chicago with Prof. Roland Winston (well known as the originator of Nonimaging Optics), he was co-founder and CEO of OEC, an optical engineering service which pioneered freeform optics. Later, at OSRAM, where he held the position of Senior Principal Key Expert (the highest rank in the OSRAM/Siemens expert career), he coordinated the over 100 optical designers within OSRAM world-wide. He then joined ARRI, the leading movie camera and lamp head maker, as Principal Optical Scientist. Julius Muschaweck now works as an independent consultant, providing illumination optics solutions to industry clients, teaching courses on illumination optics, and writing about the subject. He is the author of over 25 scientific papers and the inventor of over 50 patent applications. He also loves to go hiking with his wife and their dog.