Abstract
There exists a fractional Fourier-transform relation between the amplitude distributions of light on two spherical surfaces of given radii and separation. The propagation of light can be viewed as a process of continual fractional Fourier transformation. As light propagates, its amplitude distribution evolves through fractional transforms of increasing order. This result allows us to pose the fractional Fourier transform as a tool for analyzing and describing optical systems composed of an arbitrary sequence of thin lenses and sections of free space and to arrive at a general class of fractional Fourier-transforming systems with variable input and output scale factors.
© 1995 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
M. Fatih Erden, Haldun M. Ozaktas, and David Mendlovic
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 13(5) 1068-1071 (1996)
Haldun M. Ozaktas and David Mendlovic
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 10(12) 2522-2531 (1993)
Soo-Chang Pei and Jian-Jiun Ding
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 17(12) 2355-2367 (2000)