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Updated: Jul 29, 2026

The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry
Published on: August 12, 2013
Wigner distribution function applied to twisted Gaussian light propagating in first-order optical systems
1Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Faculteit Elektrotechniek, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. M.J.Bastiaans@ele.tue.nl
Abstract:
A measure for the twist of Gaussian light is expressed in terms of the second-order moments of the Wigner distribution function. The propagation law for these second-order moments between the input plane and the output plane of a first-order optical system is used to express the twist in one plane in terms of moments in the other plane. Although in general the twist in one plane is determined not only by the twist in the other plane but also by other combinations of the moments, several special cases exist for which a direct relationship between the twists can be formulated. Three such cases, for which zero twist is preserved, are considered: (i) propagation between conjugate planes, (ii) adaptation of the signal to the system, and (iii) the case of symplectic Gaussian light.
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