Localized light waves: Paraxial and exact solutions of the wave equation (a review)

Simple explicit localized solutions are systematized over the whole space of a linear wave equation, which models the propagation of optical radiation in a linear approximation. Much attention has been paid to exact solutions (which date back to the Bateman findings) that describe wave beams (including Bessel-Gauss beams) and wave packets with a Gaussian localization with respect to the spatial variables and time. Their asymptotics with respect to free parameters and at large distances are presented. A similarity between these exact solutions and harmonic in time fields obtained in the paraxial approximation based on the Leontovich-Fock parabolic equation has been studied. Higher-order modes are considered systematically using the separation of variables method. The application of the Bateman solutions of the wave equation to the construction of solutions to equations with dispersion and nonlinearity and their use in wavelet analysis, as well as the summation of Gaussian beams, are discussed. In addition, solutions localized at infinity known as the Moses-Prosser “acoustic bullets”, as well as their harmonic in time counterparts, “X waves”, waves from complex sources, etc., have been considered. Everywhere possible, the most elementary mathematical formalism is used.