The evolution operator formalism, combined with appropriate decomposition techniques of exponential operators, has revealed an effective strategy to treat evolution-like problems in both classical and quantum context. The continuous original equation is turned into a set of finite- difference equations, which preserve at a discrete level the basic features of the corresponding continuous model. The resulting scheme is easy to be encoded and demands for less computer time. The method can be applied to the paraxial gaussian optics, described by the 1D parabolic wave equation. Within this context, the formalism generates an explicit difference scheme, which provides a flexible numerical integration procedure, accounting for higher-order aberrations as well.

Date Published: 14 July 1998
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 3423, Second GR-I International Conference on New Laser Technologies and Applications, (14 July 1998); doi: 10.1117/12.316574

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3423:
Second GR-I International Conference on New Laser Technologies and Applications
Alexis Carabelas; Paolo Di Lazzaro; Amalia Torre; Giuseppe Baldacchini, Editor(s)