Huygens–Fresnel principle
![Wave refraction in the manner of Huygens](/Images/godic/202501/14/Refraction_-_Huygens-Fresnel_principle.svg3437.png")
![Wave diffraction in the manner of Huygens and Fresnel](/Images/godic/202501/14/Refraction_on_an_aperture_-_Huygens-Fresnel_principle.svg3438.png")
![Diffraction of a plane wave at a slit whose width is several times the wavelength](/Images/godic/202501/14/Huygens_Fresnel_Principle3438.gif")
![Diffraction of a plane wave when the slit width equals the wavelength](/Images/godic/202501/14/Wavelength=slitwidth3438.gif")
The Huygens–Fresnel principle (named after Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens and French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel) is a method of analysis applied to problems of wave propagation both in the far-field limit and in near-field diffraction.