On the existence of dichromatic single element lenses

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Due to dispersion, light with different wavelengths, or colors, is refracted at different angles. Our purpose is to determine when is it possible to design a lens made of a single homogeneous material so that it refracts light superposition of two colors into a desired fixed final direction. Two problems are considered: one is when light emanates in a parallel beam and the other is when light emanates from a point source. For the first problem, and when the direction of the parallel beam is different from the final desired direction, we show that such a lens does not exist; otherwise we prove the solution is trivial, i.e., the lens is confined between two parallel planes. For the second problem we prove that is impossible to design such a lens when the desired final direction is not among the set of incident directions. Otherwise, solving an appropriate system of functional equations we show that a local solution exists.