Abstract

Interference is a fundamental physical phenomenon proving the wave
nature of energy. It is based on wave superposition forming natural waveeffects
expressed both in nature under random selective conditions as well as
in laboratory scientific experiments by carefully controlled selection of
parameters. Science generates a number of technology applications using the
inherited properties of waves after their superposition in space termed
interference. These interfering waves have extremely rare properties compared
to their initial physical systems and become entities with measurable quantities
which can be used to quantify qualities in other phenomena, mechanisms, and
physical objects with variety of physical properties. These waves are currently
fully explored in theoretical and experimental physics finding many modern
applications and enlightening the way to longstanding questions.
Remote non contact study of surfaces and their reactions visually
witnessing internal subsurface and unknown bulk information without need to
implement destructing forces or penetrating irradiation to trace them and
without interacting with it or interfering with the results is one of the most
challenging modern applications of interference physics. Apart from everyday
life applications artworks’ conservation is a field that interference properties are
uniquely suited. It is the quality of light wave interference that is being utilised in
this body of research and summarised in the present thesis.
The context of the presented thesis unfolded in next chapters is
constructed in one book on a contextual rather than chronological order. The
contextual base presentation is achieved through clustering same context
published articles that have resulted over the course of years of research which
have been published in review journals, conference proceedings or
governmental publications.
The formation of laser interference fringe patterns and their exceptional
qualitites in application for structural diagnosis with defect detection and
definition, their unique properties utilised in studies of environmental and
climate effects, the prototype optical geometries and novel experimental
methodologies envisaged to solve specific application problems are presented
along with examination on theoretical matters of exploring interference
properties, qualities, geometries and their outmost final product the interference
fringe pattern. Thus in this thesis the aim is to prove the contribution of the
experimental research publications to the study of interference patterns as a
highly sophisticated structural diagnostic tool in the complicated problems of
Cultural Heritage applications. The implementation of interference phenomena
and the development in experimental investigations applied in inhomogeneous,
anisotropic, shape variant, multilayered, multicomposition cultural heritage
objects, paves the way to implement “fringe patterns” as a scaleless (scale
independent) diagnostic detector allowing generation of novel tools and
practices on problem solving projects. The developments are beyond the
specific application and are extended to other fields of science and technology.
The articles and bibliography cited within the text including author's
publications utilised as sources in the writing of this thesis are referenced in
square brackets and are explicitly listed in ANNEX I
The list of publications of the author is shown in ANNEX II. The originals
of author's publications supporting the thesis are provided after the Annex II as
have been published.
Due to limitation in number of pages there is not included a section to
present the fundamental principles of the phenomena presented here instead a
list of books commonly found in most University libraries is provided for
interested readers as BIBLIOGRAPHY at the last paragraphs of ANNEX I.