Rayleigh distance Rayleigh distance Rayleigh distance in optics is the axial distance from a radiating aperture to a point at which the path difference between the axial ray and an edge ray is λ / 4. An approximation of the Rayleigh Distance is formula_1, in which Z is the Rayleigh distance, D is the aperture of radiation, λ the wavelength. This approximation can be derived as follows. Consider a right angled triangle with sides adjacent formula_2, opposite formula_3and hypotenuse formula_4. According to Pythagorean theorem, formula_5. Rearranging, and simplifying formula_6 The constant termformula_7 can be neglected. In antenna applications, the Rayleigh distance is
Madelung constant Madelung constant allows for the calculation of the electric potential "V" of all ions of the lattice felt by the ion at position "r" where "r" =|"r" - "r"| is the distance between the "i"th and the "j"th ion. In addition, If the distances "r" are normalized to the nearest neighbor distance "r" the potential may be written with formula_3 being the (dimensionless) Madelung constant of the "i"th ion The electrostatic energy of the ion at site formula_5 then is the product of its charge with the potential acting at its site There occur as many Madelung constants formula_3 in