Inhomogeneous cylindrical waves: an approach to complex beams

Abstract

The asymptotic theory for inhomogeneous waves is based on the first order Luneberg-Kline expansion of the electromagnetic fields, which is also valid when the phase function is complex. This paper summarizes the propagation and transport energy trajectories for inhomogeneous cylindrical waves, which follows from the complex beam approximation under a complex radiation condition, and behave as inhomogeneous local plane waves. They are a particular case of inhomogeneous waves characterized by a pseudo-Gaussian profile in the transverse beam axis direction. In the high-frequency regime, a new approximation of this kind of solutions is made and simpler expressions are found together with its validity range.