Alternative representation of the linear canonical integral transform

Starting with the Iwasawa-type decomposition of a first-order optical system (or ABCD system) as a cascade of a lens, a magnifier, and an orthosymplectic system (a system that is both symplectic and orthogonal), a further decomposition of the orthosymplectic system in the form of a separable fractional Fourier transformer embedded between two spatial-coordinate rotators is proposed. The resulting decomposition of the entire first-order optical system then shows a physically attractive representation of the linear canonical integral transformation, which, in contrast to Collins integral, is valid for any ray transformation matrix. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America