Variational scaling law for atmospheric propagation

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Atmospheric Physics
• Wave Propagation

Background:

• Atmospheric turbulence significantly distorts optical beams, impacting applications like free-space optical communication and laser imaging.
• Existing scalar stochastic wave-optics techniques can be computationally intensive for modeling beam propagation.
• Need for efficient models that capture essential beam wavefront and phasefront evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate a novel scaling law model for optical beam propagation through atmospheric turbulence.
• To compare the performance of the new model against a common scalar stochastic wave-optics technique.
• To assess the model's ability to conserve power and track key beam parameters.

Main Methods:

• Developed a variational scaling law model focusing on beam wavefront and phasefront parameters.
• Simulated a Gaussian-shaped laser beam propagating through atmospheric turbulence.
• Assumed conservation of power throughout the propagation process.

Main Results:

• The proposed scaling law model reliably tracks essential beam parameters.
• The model demonstrates accuracy even with moderately high atmospheric turbulence strengths.
• Significant reduction in computational cost compared to traditional wave-optics methods.

Conclusions:

• The new variational scaling law offers an efficient and reliable method for modeling optical beam propagation in turbulence.
• This approach provides a computationally advantageous alternative for analyzing beam distortion.
• The model's effectiveness in moderate turbulence conditions validates its practical utility.