JOURNAL OF THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA VOLUME 46, NUMBER 1 NOVEMBER, 1956

Optical Aberration Coefficients. I. The Coefficientof Tertiary Spherical Aberration

H. A. BUCHDAHL
Physics Department,Universityof Tasmania, Hobart,Tasmania, Australia
(Received September 12, 1955)

A computing scheme involving only 19 entries per surface is developed for the calculation ab initio of
the coefficient of tertiary spherical aberration (and incidentally also the primary and secondary coefficients),
and the contributions thereto by the individual (spherical) refracting surfaces of a centered system. A
detailed example is provided.

1. INTRODUCTION to subtract some quantity whose coefficients possess

the "quasi-symmetry" expressed by identities of the
IN the systematic study of the spherical aberration
form (2.2); and one will naturally wish to use some
of symmetrical optical systems it is of advantage
expression which already occurs in the context of
to possess a succinct method for deriving the exact
secondary aberrations. A likely choice is therefore
values of at least the primary, secondary, and tertiary
5(4V)2, where [see (M27.14, 15)]
spherical aberration coefficients of any given system,
and of the contributions thereto by the individual 4tD(= 401,/3a,)= (k 2 - k+ 1)i 2 - (k- )iv-v 2. (2.3)
refracting surfaces. Conrady considers' that the coeffi-
Then
cient of tertiary spherical aberration would "utterly
defy analytical determination." In this paper I shall T- 5 (4W)2=2(k3- 2k2 +k)i 4+ (2k3-3k 2
show that, on the contrary, all the quantities referred +3k-2)i'v+ (k 2 -2k+ 1)i 2 v2 -3 (k- )iv'.
to above may be calculated by means of a scheme in-
volving only 19 simple entries per surface, of the type The expression on the right is easily seen to have the
2
described in detail in the author's previous work. factors k- 1, i, i+v, i'- v; and the remaining factor is
It had already been shown there how the coefficient 2(k-1)i+3v=5v-2v'. Hence now
of tertiary spherical aberration may be calculated. But T- 5 (4V)2= (1 -k)icy(i'-v) (2v'- 5v)
the number of relevant entries in Tables M II and = 2j(2v'-5v)'a,. (2.4)
M V is 121 per surface!
It will first be shown how a remarkably concise The required coefficient therefore appears now in the
formula for the tertiary intrinsic coefficient t,1 may be remarkably simple form
obtained by making full use of the quantity ro pre- tl,= [JOW2+ 14j (2vp'- 5vp)'ccpjCtp, (2.5)
viously introduced.* The equation for the full contribu-
tion t may thereafter be greatly simplified. (This which replaces the more complex formula (M28.5).
kind of "unsystematic" simplification is probably The second term on the right incidentally bears a strong
worth while only in the case of isolated coefficients.) resemblance to w1 [see (M218.5)].
A sample computation is given in the last section.
3. THE FULL TERTIARY CONTRIBUTION
2. THE TERTIARY INTRINSIC COEFFICIENT By (M11.5)
t,1 is given by (M28.1), viz., tlp=tp- 5'A iq+'A
p 2p) 2p+
t ,= Ica[ (5k- 8k'+ 1Ilk2-8k+5)i4 +3 (-'SQ+'A q2)a,+('Slp-2'Ap'Aja
3 2 3
- (8k - 7k +17k-8)i v X (ap+ bp)+'A P2(,+ p). (3.1)
2 2 4
-(4k2+2k+4)i v +7(k-l)ivI+5v ]. (2.1) In view of (M26.2 and 218.7) this gives immediately
Denote the factor in square brackets temporarily by T. tjp=tflp-5'A ,~jp+'Ap(5q0ip+wi)
Let f 3(k) be the coefficient of i8v4- in T. Inspection +3(-'S,,+'A2)ap+('Sp- 2'Ap'Aq)
shows that one then has identically X (3qap)+'A 1(3ectp- 2N 12,M)
k 8f(1/k)= (-1)sfa(k), (s=O, 1, ** ,4). (2.2) =tip+5A (,)Bjp+3 (A2(I)+S1(I))CP
Instead of subtracting (by way of trial) a quantity such +wi'A -- u~A'P
as 5 (i2- v2)' from T, as was done in M28, it is preferable = ap[1OtI2+15A (I)+3A 2(I)
+351(I)+-j(2v p- 5vp)%ap
'A. E. Conrady, Applied Optics and Optical Design (Oxford
University Press, London, 1929), p. 108. j(v'p-3vp)'Ap-1-uA'p. (3.2)
2 H. A. Buchdahl, Optical Aberration Coefficients (Oxford 2
University Press, London, 1954), pp. 325, 328. All references to If one writes (A 'p)2-2pAp-a p in place of A p, and
this work will hereafter be distinguished by the letter M. keeps in mind that
* The meaning of all symbols not defined here is given in
M Appendix J, p. 314 Jf. See also the Appendix below.
jAvp= Njr, (3.3)
941
 942 H. A. BUCHDAHL Vol. 46

TAB I.

Jo
t 2 3 4 5 6
*t1-dt 2 y ti 1 0.925915 0.868571 0.852767 0.840793 0.836000
*[(1-k)t3+t2]=v, t2 0 1.83937 3.40294 1.64383 0.08630 0.15301 (1.00000)
ctl-t 2 =i t3 4.82439 -2.53744 -4.83178 2.72057 0.17495 -1.37454
c/(N) =i t4 1.00000 0.183839 0.340465 1.19631 1.7760 0.657728
Nt (*t) (*r-r-d) = Vq 45 .. 0.443718 -0.0460265 -0.520641 -6.71764 7.30912
(k-1)c/N 2 1 -1.83937 -0.287446 0.598914 1.86329 -0.118469 -0.557090
102l-*t2 ) t7 ... 1.69164 4.09836 -4.43891 -1.34737 0.027982 (0.488294)
(t2 *t3) Nst le/t
3 4 = ap t 13.2443 17.6345 -23.9032 -7.48422 0.031077 1.8676 1.3592
Iii-I ts=Ap t9 0 13.2443 30.8788 6.9765 -0.5086 -0.5085
tstl+t 7 +*I=A (n ho 0 7.56836 10.2455 2.1748 4.244 0.5354
[k 1)t32-t22+t7*3=r III 4.44604 3.08589 0.09371 2.20057 0.0254239 0.969291
3t6 2=sl,, t12 176.654 563.648 -741.420 -98.239 0.021372 8.4304 -90.925
i' 11 2 =Slp t13 0 176.654 740.302 -1.118 -99.357 -99.356
(12h+3*11o)t7* 061) 114 ... 4.29247 122.055 -125.374 -19.0669 0.04147
3[*(418) 2+t 13+t14]+*tI 53S (1) t 0° 321.115 618.156 203.646 2146.46 -32.03
(1so+5ths)3t1o+10t,12 197.673 617.394 329.400 134.401 54.38 18.040
-(2tg+s)l2t4 0 -13.4294 -50.7809 -16.400 0.1559 -0.038617
t8M 116 2618.04 16313.3 -21435.8 -2407.28 0.2370 -26.20
2779.36 16450.3 -21450.4 -2407.50 0.2523 -25.69 -4653.7

the last three terms of (3.2) are easily transformed into
jvp,(2'Ap,+ 'a,) .-
so that finally
11P= Qp{ 101D2+3[A (I) (A ()+5WU)+S1(I)]
-jvp(2'A p+4'cp)}-
4. RE-EXPRESSION OF INTERMEDIATE
COEFFICIENTS
It will be noticed that in (3.4) q and the intermediate
coefficients A and S, appear only within the combina-
tions A () and S(I). This is as must be if (suitable
coordinates being used) Tk is to be independent of
p, i.e., of the position of the diaphragm. It is therefore
not necessary to calculate q, A, Siq explicitly; instead
one may proceed as follows:
Let V be an operator defined by the equation
VK= Kj- K-1,
Kj being an arbitrary quantity associated with the
jth surface. Then for any aberration coefficient G one
has at once
VG(r)j= 'Gpj_iVqj+(q'g.-'go) jl
In view of (M20.34) the equation
VA (I)j= 'Apj_ 1 Vqj+2 t ._1
follows immediately. Next, forming by means of
(M11.3) the difference qslp-siq and using (M26.2, 3)
one easily finds qsip-s1y= (qap- iq)- NA(I)AV2P
- NiwAp, the first term on the right, viz. Blp-Blq
being given by (M27.261). Hence
(A /p)2) q'sip- 'si= 3 (A (I)+lAVP 2 ) (2 AV 2)
+jvp 'ar- Ap, (4.4)
which may be inserted in the equation for VSl(I)j. It
remains to consider Vq. By definition one has
lw(A'p) 2. (3-4)
Vqi= (i-1 i) (ip,,4pi1). (4.5)
Inserting i'ij= ci_.yi-(1-ci_d)vi and ii= ciyi- v,
and using (M5.85) it follows that
Vqi=NNi(ri_1-ri-di)
I'i-iJi. (4.6)
(If r= oo one has Vqi= -ji-/ii, while if r 1 = oo
one has Vqi= ji'pi_ 1 .)
5. SAMPLE COMPUTATION
A scheme suitable for the computation of T'1pk is
given in Table I, the actual calculations referring to the
usual triplet the specifications of which are contained
(4.1) in Table M I, page 60. The object is at infinity. Since
the construction of the scheme, and all conventions
regarding it, are described in full detail on page M324ff.
no further comment is necessary beyond pointing out
that where dots replace an entry in the first column
this entry is absent in principle, and that if it appears
(4.2) subsequently it is to be treated as zero.
APPENDIX
(4.3) The following is a list of the symbols used in the
present paper. Although it is virtually merely an
extract from M, Appendix J pages 314-321, it is hoped
that it will make the reader's task somewhat easier.
The numbers in parentheses refer to the section of M
in which the symbol in question is first defined.
November 1956 OPTICAL ABERRATION COEFFICIENTS 943

APPENDIX (continued) =AN(yoV-voY) can be expanded in a series of homo-

a, ap, Qqaq see paragraph following. geneous polynomials of degree 3, 5, 7, * * * in the chosen
Ap, Ap *.. see paragraph following. coordinates (1, 6-8, 12). The coefficients of these poly-
A (I) q'Ap-'A . (84) nomials are then the contributions to the aberration
coefficients of the various orders, i.e., primary, second-
bp, * * see paragraph following.
ary, tertiary, -- (or 3rd, 5th, 7th, -- order). If
c curvature of (spherical) refracting sur-
face. (4) 21= Yl+Z 1 2, 71= YiV 1+ZiWi, t1= Vl+W? 2 , then one
cpI,c, * see paragraph following. may write (8)
di separation of (j- I)th and jth sur- AA= (aYij+aVi ~+bY77i+bVini
1
faces. (3) +csYlr+ cVll) + (s1YiWl+ SlV1Wl
/v defined by: AX=X'-X, for any X. (2)
+s 2 Y171+ *±**
+ 6 ViSi2)
i paraxial "angle of incidence" (=cy-v).
(5 and 4) + (thYlV+
1 *. +i 1oV~13)+0(9),
j c/('Nip). (218) considering only the first few orders. The corresponding
k refractance (= N/N'). (4) "intermediate" coefficients are defined by (8)
N refractive index. (2)
W Petzval term (=cAN-1). (5) j-i ; j-1
q ig/ip. (25) Aj= aj, A j'= a-, Sj= sly,--
i=1 i=1 j=1
r radius of (spherical) surface. (4)
Bip,ilp, * see paragraph following. and so on for any other coefficient. Each of these splits
S1p, Sip,* see paragraph following. up in the manner indicated above, e.g.,
tip intrinsic contribution to tertiary spher-
ical aberration coefficient (see also aj = apjs o+aqjto, or ;9ij=ASipjso+Siqito,
paragraph following). (11) and similarly for any other coefficient. The "pseudo-
tip full contribution to tertiary spherical expansion" of AA is a purely formal auxiliary expansion
aberration coefficient (see also para- which results if one replaces the exact relations between
graph following). (8) the variables of a ray at any surface and its coordinates
Tllpk (augmented) coefficientof tertiary spher- by the corresponding paraxial relations (a). One
ical aberration (see also paragraph writes (note the beginning of 1lb),
following). (8)
v paraxial variable corresponding to ca- AA=(aY+aVti+* .+. 1)
nonical V variable (direction tangent). + ( 1Y lyi+ * W6 Vi~i2)+**
(5 and 3)
2 ).
ro I (ij2+i 2 +v 23v (218) and so on in an obvious manner. (The coefficients
w1 j(v'p-3vp)Ccp. (218) appearing in this series are called "intrinsic" since they
y paraxial variable corresponding to ca- represent the entire contribution to the final coefficient
nonical Y variable (intersection with by the surface in question if the incident pencil happens
polar tangent plane). (5 and 4) to be free from aberrations at that surface.) The
'(prime) if X is any quantity before refraction at passage from the pseudo-expansion to the true ex-
a given surface, then X' is its value pansion is carried out by a process of iteration (10, 11,
after refraction. (1) 81, 84), each step yielding the exact coefficients of next
' (anteprime) precedes the symbol, and indicates di- higher order. The final (augmented) total displacement
vision of the quantity by N1 , or N 1/g. (1,7) is
(5 and 12)
p, q (subscripts) defined as follows: If X is NkIVcOkk AAi,
5=1
any quantity which involves linear
paraxial variables (9) linearly, and if and the coefficients of its series expansion are of course
so, toare chosen paraxial paracanonical A'k, Ak', *--, C ',S --.. In the examplecomputed
coordinates (12) then X splits up ac- here, the augmenting factor Nk'Vok' is unity and so
cording to the scheme X= Xpso+Xto. does not appear explicitly. If the coordinates are
j, k (subscripts) these number the surfaces, suitably chosen (12) the coefficients of the exact ex-
and are always last when there are pansionofNk'VOk'£pk, i.e.,A pk,A pk. **, Cpk, S'ipk, . . .
several subscripts. k refers to the last have the familiar geometrical significance (203, 31, 42b).
surface of the system. Thus in the present example A'pk, S'Ipk, T11pk are in
A short account is needed for the definition of the fact directly the coefficients of primary, secondary, and
various aberration coefficients above. tertiary (i.e., of third, fifth, and seventh order) spherical
The quasi-invariant (7 and 5c, e) AA= ANvoH aberration, respectively (for unit focal length).