Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Gauss's Law

Gauss's Law

If a closed surface does not have any charge inside where an electric field line can terminate, then the electric field line entering the surface at one point must necessarily exit at some other point of the surface. Therefore, if a closed surface does not have any charges inside the enclosed volume, then the electric flux through the surface is zero. What happens to the electric flux if there are some charges inside the enclosed volume? Gauss's law gives a quantitative answer to this question.

Plane Electromagnetic Waves I

Plane Electromagnetic Waves I

The existence of combined electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space as electromagnetic (EM) waves is the most significant prediction of Maxwell's equations. As Maxwell's equations hold in free space, the predicted electromagnetic waves do not require a medium for their propagation. An EM wave comprises an electric field, defined as the force per charge on a stationary charge, and a magnetic field, which is the force per charge on a moving charge.
The EM field is assumed to be a...

Deflection of a Beam

Deflection of a Beam

Accurately determining beam deflection and slope under various loading conditions in structural engineering is crucial for ensuring safety and structural integrity. Singularity functions offer a streamlined approach to analyzing beams, especially when multiple loading functions complicate the bending moment equation.
Singularity functions, described in an earlier lesson, are powerful mathematical tools that represent discontinuities within a function commonly encountered in structural loading...

Gauss's Law: Planar Symmetry

Gauss's Law: Planar Symmetry

A planar symmetry of charge density is obtained when charges are uniformly spread over a large flat surface. In planar symmetry, all points in a plane parallel to the plane of charge are identical with respect to the charges. Suppose the plane of the charge distribution is the xy-plane, and the electric field at a space point P with coordinates (x, y, z) is to be determined. Since the charge density is the same at all (x, y) - coordinates in the z = 0 plane, by symmetry, the electric field at P...

Gauss's Law: Cylindrical Symmetry

Gauss's Law: Cylindrical Symmetry

A charge distribution has cylindrical symmetry if the charge density depends only upon the distance from the axis of the cylinder and does not vary along the axis or with the direction about the axis. In other words, if a system varies if it is rotated around the axis or shifted along the axis, it does not have cylindrical symmetry. In real systems, we do not have infinite cylinders; however, if the cylindrical object is considerably longer than the radius from it that we are interested in,...

Shear on the Horizontal Face of a Beam Element

Shear on the Horizontal Face of a Beam Element

To understand shear on the flat side of a prismatic beam element, consider the vertical and horizontal shearing forces, and the normal forces, acting on the element. The element's upper (U) and lower (L) sections, which are divided by the beam's neutral axis, are examined. The equilibrium of these forces is determined by applying the equilibrium equation, which helps identify the horizontal shearing force. This force is directly related to the bending moments and the cross-section's first...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Propagation velocity of a surface polariton.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2014

Same author

Modified fundamental Airy wave.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2014

Same author

Cherenkov radiation versus X-shaped localized waves: comment.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2013

Same author

Complex space source theory of partially coherent light wave.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2010

Same author

Partially coherent fundamental Gaussian wave generated by a fluctuating planar current source.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2010

Same author

Full-wave generalizations of the fundamental Gaussian beam.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2009

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry

The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry

Published on: August 12, 2013

Basic full-wave generalization of the real-argument Hermite-Gauss beam.

¹s.r.seshadri@att.net

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, Image Science, and Vision

|May 8, 2010

Summary

This study investigates Hermite-Gauss beams, finding their paraxial form has zero reactive power. Full-wave analysis reveals infinite reactive power for the generalized beam, with real power depending on wavenumber and mode numbers.

More Related Videos

Shaping the Amplitude and Phase of Laser Beams by Using a Phase-only Spatial Light Modulator

Shaping the Amplitude and Phase of Laser Beams by Using a Phase-only Spatial Light Modulator

Published on: January 28, 2019

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Published on: June 7, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 13, 2026

The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry

The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry

Published on: August 12, 2013

Shaping the Amplitude and Phase of Laser Beams by Using a Phase-only Spatial Light Modulator

Shaping the Amplitude and Phase of Laser Beams by Using a Phase-only Spatial Light Modulator

Published on: January 28, 2019

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Published on: June 7, 2019

Area of Science:

Physics
Optics
Electromagnetism

Background:

Hermite-Gauss beams are fundamental solutions in paraxial optics.
Understanding their full-wave behavior is crucial for advanced optical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the complex power and reactive power of linearly polarized real-argument Hermite-Gauss beams.
To generalize these beams to a full-wave description and analyze their power characteristics.

Main Methods:

Fourier transform method applied to linearly polarized real-argument Hermite-Gauss beams.
Deduction of the complex space source for full-wave generalization.
Evaluation of real and reactive powers for both paraxial and full-wave cases.

Main Results:

The paraxial Hermite-Gauss beam exhibits zero reactive power.
The full-wave generalized beam possesses infinite reactive power, with the singularity explained.
Real power is dependent on wavenumber (k), e-folding distance (w(0)), and mode numbers (m, n).

Conclusions:

The transition from paraxial to full-wave description significantly alters the reactive power characteristics.
The real power of the full-wave Hermite-Gauss beam offers tunable parameters for optical system design.