4. Conclusions

After a brief reminder of the theoretical formulas for Gaussian beams based on the reference [E 4 042] , this article illustrated the propagation of a Gaussian beam through the best-known centered optical system, namely the thin lens. It is then shown that linear optics can be applied under the condition of a sufficiently small Rayleigh distance, enabling matrix calculations to be extended to Gaussian beams. The law of radii of curvature is deduced, which can be applied to many practical "Gaussian optics" problems. Thus, if a Gaussian beam illuminates an optical device based on several optical elements (dioptric...