Gaussian optics

Gaussian optics is a technique in geometrical optics that describes the behaviour of light rays in optical systems using the paraxial approximation, in which only rays that make small angles with the optical axis of the system are considered. In this approximation, the trigonometric relations governing propagation and refraction are linearized, so that simple formulae can be obtained for quantities such as focal length, image position, magnification, and brightness.

Gaussian optics is named after mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss, who showed that a centered optical system can be characterized by a set of cardinal points, from which its first-order optical properties may be determined. In modern terms, Gaussian optics may be viewed as the linearization of the Hamiltonian dynamics of light rays near the optical axis.

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