In this way it is only possible for diffracted rays to enter the objective.
Consider now the light diffracted in a direction many times more oblique than any with which we should be concerned, were the whole aperture uninterrupted, and take first the effect of a single small aperture.
For the alteration of wave-length entails, at the two limits of a diffracted wave-front, a relative retardation equal to mndX.
Hence, if a be the width of the diffracted beam, and do the angle through which the wave-front is turned, ado = dX, or dispersion = /a ..
The occurrence of sin 4 as a factor in (6) shows that the relative intensities of the primary light and of that diffracted in the direction B depend upon the condition of the former as regards polarization.
