Focused X-shaped pulses.

Abstract

The space-time focusing of a (continuous) succession of localized X-shaped pulses is obtained by suitably integrating over their speed, i.e., over their axicon angle, thus generalizing a previous (discrete) approach. New superluminal wave pulses are first constructed and then tailored so that they become temporally focused at a chosen spatial point, where the wave field can reach very high intensities for a short time. Results of this kind may find applications in many fields, besides electromagnetism and optics, including acoustics, gravitation, and elementary particle physics.