Principal component analysis of refractive index spaces: From glass properties to residual colour prediction

\nTraditionally glass dispersion is described by Abbe numbers and partial dispersions, and colour correction is explained and visualized e.g. with Pg,F- and Herzberger diagrams. We have recently developed an alternative approach to colour analysis and colour correction based on principal component analysis of normalized refractive index data. The resulting diagrams can be used not only for glass selection, but also for quantitative prediction of partial refractive powers and residual colour aberrations. The method is intrinsically model-free, robust to the choice of dataset and wavelengths, and transfers easily to any spectral range.\n