Optical transforms in digital holography

Digital holography is a symbiosis of physical optics and digital computers. In numerical reconstruction of optical holograms, optical wavefront is sampled, and obtained numerical data are transformed in computers for evaluating physical properties of objects that produced that wave front. In fabricating computer-generated holograms, numerical data produced by a computer are converted into a physical hologram or an optical element intended for forming real optical beams. Therefore mutual correspondence between optical transformations and their computer representations is of fundamental importance for digital holography. In the paper, this problem is addressed and different computer representations of basic optical transforms such as convolution, Fourier and Fresnel integral transforms are briefly reviewed.