Memory-efficient reference calculation of light propagation using the convolution method

In computational Fourier optics, computer generated holography, etc., coherent light propagation calculation between parallel planes is the essential task. A proper calculation discretization in the off-axis case leads to big memory demands in order to avoid aliasing errors. The proposed method typically cuts down the memory demands one hundred times. The principle of the method is based on the observation that there is a close correspondence between the reconstruction process (opposite of the sampling process) and prefiltering of the convolution kernel.