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Analytical treatment and experiments of the virtual image of cone mirrors

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Abstract

We present the analytical calculation, validated by experiments, of the virtual image of solid cone mirrors used to decipher hidden pictures and/or writings on the plane of the cone’s base. Our results demonstrate that the virtual image of solid cone mirrors lies on a not intuitive 3D surface, thus showing how the commonly used geometric treatment is inadequate to find the correct position of the virtual image. The extension of our analysis to cone mirrors used as panoramic imaging tools for machine vision is discussed.

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Correspondence to Paolo Di Lazzaro.

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Murra, D., Di Lazzaro, P. Analytical treatment and experiments of the virtual image of cone mirrors. Appl. Phys. B 117, 145–150 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-014-5814-1

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