The Interrelations between Moiré Patterns, Contour Fringes, Optical Surfaces and Their Sum and Difference Effects

A general relationship between potential functions and moiré patterns can be realized in a number of forms. The potential function can be worked as an optical surface and combined with other potential functions similarly worked to give the solution to a complex potential problem. Contour fringes can be produced from the optical surfaces or generated on a computer graph plotter directly. When superimposed these contour lines generate moiré fringes which are also solutions to potential function problems but with an essential ambiguity of sign. Two circularly symmetrical potential wells have been contoured and moiré fringe solutions to simple problems are given.