By Patricia Daukantas
The comprehensive energy bill that President Bush signed into law yesterday contains two major provisions concerning lighting technology.
The first clause requires that federal civilian buildings change over to more energy-efficient lighting, such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and other bulbs with the Energy Star designation. Based on legislation submitted earlier this year by Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), the provision affects the 1,800 buildings managed by the General Services Administration. The government will be replacing up to 3 million light bulbs with more efficient models as the old bulbs burn out.
“If you’re the landlord and have the opportunity to save $74 per light bulb, it really isn’t a very hard decision,” Inglis said at a press conference yesterday after the House of Representatives approved the final version of the legislation. “We’re the landlord in a lot of properties.”
Lipinski noted that the House changed over to CFLs earlier this year. A similar provision in the Defense Department appropriations bill will cover military buildings.
The other lighting-related portion of the bill effectively phases out the use of low-efficiency incandescent bulbs over the coming decade. It doesn’t explicitly outlaw incandescents; it just mandates a high lumens-per-watt rating for certain types of light bulbs starting in 2012. The efficiency requirements will be phased in gradually through 2014.
U.S. News & World Report has already posted a Q&A on “the end of the light bulb as we know it.” Watch OPN for an upcoming article on the new light-bulb efficiency regulations and what they mean for the lighting industry.
Posted by Javier Hernández Andrés, University of Granada, Spain
Four European Universities are gathering their skills and knowledge to propose a new, two-year master’s program, titled “Color in Informatics and Media Technology” (CIMET) within the prestigious Erasmus Mundus program, a cooperative program in the field of higher education that promotes the European Union as a center of excellence in learning around the world. The four universities are the University of Granada, Spain; University of Joensuu, Finland; Gjovik University College, Norway; and the University of Saint-Etienne, France.
The study program of this Master’s course is broadly interdisciplinary, encompassing photonics, computer vision, imaging science, computer science and multimedia technology, as a mix of relevant theoretical and practical knowledge. The objective is to educate students in advanced methodologies and models in computational color science, with the dual goals of research orientation and further studies on one hand, and practical applications on the other.
CIMET offers three areas of specialization: color imaging science, spectral color science and multimedia technology science. These areas are emergent and rapidly evolving, and they have a growing impact on information technology. Courses will be taught in English and are structured according to the ECTS, with 120 credits run over four semesters of full-time study.
Our consortium invites you or your colleagues to become a visiting scholar during three months in one of our four universities and to conduct research related to one of the following fields: color image capture, devices and processing; spectral color science; and technologies and models for multi-media systems. Four grants of 13.000 Euros are proposed per year. As an invited scholar, you will also contribute to the teaching of one compulsory course or one optional specialization course among the set of courses proposed.
Our consortium also invites you to promote this master’s program to the students in your institution. The program is now open for applications. To qualify for admission, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent in computer science, physics or mathematics, or a related field. Admission will be based on academic excellence. Twelve students from EU countries will be admitted, and 18 students from outside EU.
Fees
The tuition fees are set to 10,060 euros for the academic year. The fees cover all courses (included language courses), services and facilities offered in the CIMET master’s program. The fees do not cover copies, books, accommodation, meals, travel expenses or general expenses. However, in each country, students will have available university meals and access to a library and a devoted computer lab. Tuition fees will be paid to the coordinating institution. No additional fees will be applied to students by the other institutions.
Grants
Eighteen scholarships of 21.000 euros by year will be awarded for non-EU students. These scholarships cover travel and living expenses and tuition in Europe for the full duration of the course.
Twelve scholarships that reduce the tuition fees to 3,350 euros per year will be awarded for EU students. Additional and optional grants from the SOCRATES program and other sponsors for intra-European mobility are also available.
Calendar for the application procedure
December 2007: Opening of the application server
January 31, 2008: Application deadline for non European students and scholars
April 14, 2008: Application deadline for European students
September 2008: Beginning of the courses for the first semester.
Coordinator of the consortium
Alain Trémeau, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, University of Saint-Etienne, France
Administrative coordinator
Thomas Guillobez, International Office, University of Saint-Etienne, France
Other contacts
Javier Hernández-Andrés, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Spain
Jussi Parkkinen, Faculty of Sciences, University of Joensuu, Finland
Jon Y. Hardeberg, Faculty of Computer Science, Gjøvik University College, Norway
For more information
Visit www.master-erasmusmundus-color.eu or contact: cimet@ligiv.org.
Posted by Alejandro Cornejo-Rodríguez, OSA Fellow, and Fermín Granados-Agustín
In the field of interferometry, there is a well-known classification between wavefront division interferometers and amplitude division interferometers.1 Some examples of wavefront division interferometers are the Young’s experiment, Fresnel’s prism and lens, Billet’s lens, Lloyd’s mirror, the stellar Michelson’s interferometer and the Chalmer scheme.2 On the other hand, for the case of the amplitude division interferometers, examples include the classical arrangements devised by Newton, Fizeau, Mach-Zender, Jamin, Lummer and Gehrke, and Michelson.3
Of course, there are many different types of modifications to these interferometers that have appeared over the years in the literature.4,5,6 Some other books describe the various experimental schemes for different applications, taking into account, among other characteristics, equal or unequal paths of the interfering wavefronts; the use of white or different light sources, or different kinds of lasers; the traveling of different or common paths of the interfering beams; or according to the kind of interference fringes that are observed.
However, an interesting interferometer that cannot be easily classified in one of the well-known categories is the one invented by Linnik7 and used many years later by Smartt and Strong and Smartt and Steel8—the so-called point diffraction interferometer. The plate used for producing the interference between two wavefronts contains a small open pinhole on a glass plate that produces the reference Wr by wavefront division.
On the other hand, the other wavefront, the one to be analyzed, is passing through the rest of the plate with a reduced transmission by amplitude division. Hence, it seems that this kind of interferometer has classical characteristics for producing interference phenomena, while at the same time it acts as an interferometer with wavefront and amplitude divisions.
Some other interferometric arrangements used for optical testing are the Ronchi and Hartmann tests, both of which have been classified as interferometric methods.9 In the case of the Ronchi test, the set-up is considered as a lateral shearing interferometer.10 However, it is also a wavefront division device and not just an amplitude division interferometer, from the point of view of a lateral shear interferometer.
In the same sense, the Hartmann scheme is a wavefront division interferometer, with information in two perpendicular directions, and the Ronchi test only in one. In the case of the Ronchi test, if a phase grating is used, as in the case of the Linnik interferometer, an amplitude division interferometer is working with the use of the Ronchi grating; but at the same time, as a wavefront division instrument.
Another set-up that works as a wavefront division system is the Shack-Hartmann technique used in adaptive optics systems.11 However, if somehow a phase shift is introduced between its apertures, the method can be classified as an experimental arrangement working with a wavelength or amplitude division interferometer. There is a particular scheme in which a reflective diffraction grating is used for producing interference,12 where the first orders are used for observing the interference fringes. Once more, if the diffraction grating is converted in a phase grating, the interference pattern observed is due to the combination of wavefronts produced by the interferometer.
In view of the previous analysis, it can be considered that between the classical classification of interferometers by wavefront and amplitude divisions, there is a third class of interferometric schemes that use both interference methods, at the same time, for producing interference fringes.
The authors would like to thank John N. Howard, the editor of OPN’s history column, for his enlightening comments on this manuscript.
[Alejandro Cornejo-Rodríguez and Fermín Granados-Agustín are with the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE), Puebla Pue, México.]
References
1. F. Jenkins and H. White. “The principles of Optics,” Mc Graw Hill Co., 1932.
2. S.D. Chalmers. “The Testing of Photographic Lenses,” Transaction Opt. Soc. 5, 87 (1903).
3. M. Born and E. Wolf. “Principles of Optics”. 7th (expanded) edition, Cambridge, University Press, 1999.
4. W.H. Steel. “Interferometry,” Cambridge University Press, 1967.
5. F. Twyman. “Prism and Lens Making”, Hilger and Watts, London, Chapters 11 and 12 (1957).
6. D. Malacara, ed. “Optical Shop Testing.” 3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons (2007, Anniversary).
7. W. Linnik. “Simple Interferometer to Test Optical Systems,” Comptes Rendus de l’Academie des Science d l’URSS 1, 208 (1933). Abstract in Z. Instrumentenkd 54, 463 (1934).
8. R.N. Smartt and J. Strong. “Point Diffraction Interferometer” (abstract only), J. Opt. Soc. Am. 62, 737 (1972). R.N. Smartt and W.H. Steel. “Theory and application point diffraction interferometer,” Proceedings of the ICO Conference on Optical Methods, in Scientific and Industrial Measurements Tokyo, 1974. Jap. J. Appl. Phys., 14, Suppl. 1, 351 (1975).
9. A. Cordero-Dávila et al. “Ronchi and Hartmann Tests With Same Mathematical Theory,” Appl. Opt. 31, 2370-6 (1992).
10. V. Ronchi. “Sur la Nature Interferentielle des Frangesd’Ombre dans l’Essai des Sistems Optiques,” Rev. Opt. 5, 441 (1926).
11. R.V. Shack and B.C. Platt. “Production and use of a lenticular Hartmann screen,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. 61, 656 (abstract only), 1971.
12. C.K. Munnerlyn et al. “Interferometric Measurement of Optically Rough Surfaces,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron., QE-5, 359 (1969).