Abstract
The paraxial approximation to the scalar Helmholtz equation is shown to be equivalent to the Schrödinger equation for a quantum harmonic oscillator. This equivalence maps the Gouy phase of classical wave optics onto the time coordinate of the quantum harmonic oscillator and also helps us understand the qualitative behavior of the field and intensity distributions of focused optical beams in terms of the amplitude and probability distributions of quantum harmonic oscillators and vice versa.
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