Propagation of light beams beyond the paraxial approximation

Light beams extending beyond the paraxial region are investigated by the correction scheme of Lax et al. [ Phys. Rev. A11, 1365 ( 1975)] All higher-order corrections for the Laguerre–Gaussian and Hermite–Gaussian beams are obtained explicity. It is shown that the corrections for both Gaussian beams are described in the same form. When the field distribution of a light beam is specified at some transverse plane, we can deal with its propagation beyond the paraxial approximation by superposing the corrected beams.