Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, November, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. S.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Michaels, Jennifer; Committee Member: Jacobs, Laurence; Committee Member: Michaels, Thomas. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

The behaviour of very low frequency (V.L.F.) radio waves propagating in an ionlzed medium, such as the ionosphere and exosphere, may exhibit markedly different characteristics from those of frequencies such as are used for communication in the short-wave bands. The anisotropy introduced into the medium by the presence of the earth's magnetic field has a significant effect, while at frequencies below about 5KHz the presence of heavy positive ions may further affect propagation. In particular it is found that, under suitable conditions, V.L.F. signals may propagate along paths closely following the lines of force of the earth's magnetic field. The study of such signals has a practical interest in that, from consideration of their propagation times and dispersion properties, they can provide an inexpensive method of determining electron densities at well beyond the range of satellite investigation. For this reason, if for no other, theoretical investigation of the paths traced in a model exosphere may indicate how closely the model exosphere approximates the true one. A powerful method of tracing out these paths is by the use of "ray-tracing", provided the properties of the medium vary slowly in space, a condition not always fulfilled in practice. It has been the subject of this thesis to carry out ray-tracing studies, in particular noting the effects of the positive ions in the exosphere; effects which have not received much notice before as they were thought to be unimportant. Intro., p. 1-2.

This thesis presents Ray Collection BVH, an improvement over a current day Ray Tracing acceleration structure to both build and perform the steps necessary to efficiently render dynamic scenes. Bounding Volume Hierarchy (BVH) is a commonly used acceleration structure, which aides in rendering complex scenes in 3D space using Ray Tracing by breaking the scene of triangles into a simple hierarchical structure. The algorithm this thesis explores was developed in an attempt at accelerating the process of both constructing this structure, and also using it to render these complex scenes more efficiently. The idea of using "ray collection" as a data structure was accidentally stumbled upon by the author in testing a theory he had for a class project. The overall scheme of the algorithm essentially collects a set of localized rays together and intersects them with subsequent levels of the BVH at each build step. In addition, only part of the acceleration structure is built on a per-Ray need basis. During this partial build, the Rays responsible for creating the scene are partially processed, also saving time on the overall procedure. Ray tracing is a widely used technique for simple rendering from realistic images to making movies. Particularly, in the movie industry, the level of realism brought in to the animated movies through ray tracing is incredible. So any improvement brought to these algorithms to improve the speed of rendering would be considered useful and iii welcome. This thesis makes contributions towards improving the overall speed of scene rendering, and hence may be considered as an important and useful contribution

The numerical solutions of Maxwell’s equations have been the cornerstone of photonic design for over a century. In recent years, the field of photonics has witnessed a surge in interest in inverse design, driven by the potential to engineer nonintuitive photonic structures with remarkable properties. However, the conventional approach to inverse design, which relies on fully discretized numerical simulations, faces significant challenges in terms of computational efficiency and scalability. This thesis delves into an alternative paradigm for inverse design, leveraging the power of semi-analytical methods. Unlike their fully discretized counterparts, semi-analytical methods hold the promise of enabling simulations that are independent of the computational grid size, potentially revolutionizing the design and optimization of photonic structures. To achieve this goal, we put forth a more generalized formalism for semi-analytical methods and have developed a comprehensive differential theory to underpin their operation. This theoretical foundation not only enhances our understanding of these methods but also paves the way for their broader application in the field of photonics. In the final stages of our investigation, we illustrate how the semi-analytical simulation framework can be effectively employed in practical photonic design scenarios. We demonstrate the synergy of semi-analytical methods with ray tracing techniques, showcasing their combined potential in the creation of large-scale optical lens systems and other complex optical devices.

Modern rendering systems require fast and efficient acceleration structures in order to compute visibility in real time. I present several novel data structures and algorithms for computing visibility with high performance. In particular, I present two algorithms for improving heuristic based acceleration structure build. These algorithms, when used in a demand driven way, have been shown to improve build performance by up to two orders of magnitude. Additionally, I introduce ray tracing in perspective transformed space. I demonstrate that ray tracing in this space can significantly improve visibility performance for near-common origin rays such as eye and shadow rays. I use these data structures and algorithms to support a key hypothesis of this dissertation: “There is no silver bullet for solving the visibility problem; many different acceleration structures will be required to achieve the highest performance.” Specialized acceleration structures provide significantly better performance than generic ones and building many specialized structures requires high performance build techniques. Additionally, I present an optimization-based taxonomy for classifying acceleration structures and algorithms in order to identify which optimizations provide the largest improvement in performance. This taxonomy also provides context for the algorithms I present. Finally, I present several novel cost metrics (and a correction to an existing cost metric) to improve visibility performance when using metric based acceleration structures. / text

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-81).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references and index.

The use of ray tracing in the analysis of certain daytime ionograms recorded at Grahamstown is discussed in this thesis. A computer program has been modified and used to trace rays in the frequency range 1 - 30 MHz. Vertical, short distance oblique, and long distance oblique ionograms have been synthesized from the results and compared with experimental ionograms for Grahamstown, the Alice - Grahamstown transmission path (64 km), and the SANAE - Grahamstown transmission path (4470 km) respectively. Ray paths have been calculated and related in detail to the models of the ionosphere and geomagnetic field. The main features of the vertical and short distance oblique ionograms can, in general, be reproduced using spherically stratified ionosphere models with electron density profiles derived from vertical ionograms. A suitable model for the geomagnetic field is a tilted dipole equivalent to the actual field at Grahamstown. The two-hop mode is shown to be, usually, the lowest on the long distance oblique records. The ionosphere model is the principal limiting factor in reproducing such ionograms, and the most satisfactory results have been those obtained with a model in which electron density is assumed to vary linearly with latitude between the profiles at SANAE and Grahamstown. The promising results obtained by ray tracing with normal ionospheric conditions indicate that the method has further possibilities which could usefully be explored. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study describes the design and construction of a low-cost linear Fresnel solar concentrator. Ray-trace simulation models that analyse optical performance were developed and then used to perform sensitivity analyses of various characteristics of linear Fresnel concentrators. The design of a small-scale concentrator was optimised using the simulation models, after which the concentrator was constructed in the solar laboratory. The concentrator consists of a single-motor tracking system, flat primary mirrors and a low-cost secondary concentrator that approximates a compound parabolic concentrator. Testing revealed satisfactory performance that was comparable to the simulation models’ prediction. The construction of a low-cost solar concentrator that can replace existing thermal sources for the generation of power and process heat is thus achievable. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die ontwerp en konstruksie van 'n laekoste- lineêre Fresnel-sonkonsentreerder word in hierdie studie beskryf. Stralingsimulasiemodelle wat optiese werksverrigting analiseer is ontwikkel en gebruik om sensitiwiteitsanalises van die verskillende eienskappe van lineêre Fresnel-konsentreerders te doen. Die modelle is verder gebruik om die ontwerp van 'n kleinskaalse konsentreerder te optimeer, waarna die konsentreerder in die sonlaboratorium gebou is. Die konsentreerder bestaan uit 'n enkelmotorvolgingstelsel, plat primêre spieëls en 'n laekoste- sekondêre konsentreerder soortgelyk aan 'n saamgestelde, paraboliese konsentreerder. Toetsing dui bevredigende werksverrigting aan, vergelykbaar met wat die simulasiemodelle voorspel het. Dit is dus moontlik om 'n laekoste-sonkonsentreerder wat bestaande termiese bronne vir kragopwekking en proseshittegenerasie kan vervang, daar te stel.