Spherical aberration and its correction using Lie algebraic methods

We discuss three methods to correct spherical aberration for a point to point imaging system. First, results obtained using Fermat’s principle and the ray tracing method are described briefly. Next, we obtain solutions using Lie algebraic techniques. Even though one cannot always obtain analytical results using this method, it is often more powerful than the first method. The result obtained with this approach is compared and found to agree with the exact result of the first method.