Abstract
In this paper, we elaborate on quite a simple analytical framework for the physically intelligible principle of a ray description of inhomogeneous wavefields on the basis of the generic properties of active and reactive wave power flows. While being very close to traditional geometric optics (GO) in the limit of lossless media, in substantially non-Hermitian systems this approach turns out to be a distinct method capable of keeping up ray trajectories in a real-valued domain. We also demonstrate that the ray method based on power-flow analysis is mostly free from the standard limitations of GO. In this regard, the proper use of the ray-tracing technique can be justified for modelling a wide range of non-regular wave phenomena if wave power transport is under consideration. The paraxial equations are shown to comply with the power-flow formulation, thus finding an extended range of applicability.
Published Version
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