Final answer:
The brightness gain is the product of the minification gain and the flux gain in an optical system.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer is 1) The product of the minification gain and the flux gain.
In optics, brightness gain refers to the increase in brightness of an image formed by an optical system, such as a microscope or telescope. The brightness gain is determined by multiplying the minification gain (reduction in size) and the flux gain (increase in the amount of light).
For example, if the minification gain is 2 (image size is reduced by a factor of 2) and the flux gain is 3 (amount of light is increased by a factor of 3), the brightness gain would be 2 x 3 = 6.