Beam propagation in a thick lens using the quantum mechanics formulism

Abstract

This paper has to do with the introduction of an algebraic operator method suitable for applications in a wide area of optics. The algebraic structure of this method allows us to derive results usually obtained by using the method of rays in classical optics. Here, we treat the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the framework of paraxial approach, where the paraxial wave equation is viewed as the Schrodinger's wave equation of quantum theory. The time variable of the Schrodinger's equation plays the role of a coordinate along the propagation axis. From this point of view, a formal analogy among the wave optics and quantum mechanics is constructed. In this work, the impulse response function (IRF) for a thick lens is obtained, and from this, the well known corresponding matrix transformation in classical optics is deduced.