On the connection between image formation formulas in geometrical optics and beam transformation formulas in wave optics

The close connection between image formation in geometrical optics and beam transformation by a paraxial optical system is examined analytically using mathematical tools accessible to undergraduate students, such as the Fresnel diffraction integral and Fourier transforms, instead of the more complicated Wigner distribution or coherence functions frequently employed in the literature. It is shown that geometrical optics correctly predicts the plane where a beam is refocused and its magnification only for afocal optical systems or in the limit of point sources. We illustrate this theory by simulating the transformation of a flat-top beam by a pair of lenses. (C) 2013 American Association of Physics Teachers.