wave op• Data kinds: cimage → cimage
• Call: import optics; optics.angular_spectrum_propagate(field, wavelength_um=0.55, distance_um=100.0, pixel_pitch_um=1.0) (or opsoptics.get("angular_spectrum_propagate"))
Exact scalar free-space propagation of a complex field (angular spectrum).
`U(z) = IFFT{ FFT{U(0)} * exp(i*2*pi*z*sqrt(1/lambda^2 - fx^2 - fy^2)) }`
in the `exp(-i*omega*t)` convention, so a positive *distance_um*
propagates forward. Components beyond the propagating cone
(`fx^2 + fy^2 > 1/lambda^2`) are attenuated by
`exp(-2*pi*|z|*sqrt(fx^2 + fy^2 - 1/lambda^2))`, which is the physical
evanescent decay — not zeroed, so `distance_um = 0` is an *exact*
identity and the transfer function is continuous through it.
Unlike Fresnel propagation this makes no paraxial approximation: it is the
exact solution of the Helmholtz equation for a band-limited field, valid
from a fraction of a wavelength outward.
Returns a complex128 array with the same shape as *field*.
Ground truth it reproduces (measured): `distance_um = 0` returns the field
bit-identically (it short-circuits the transform pair); propagating `+z`
then `-z` returns the original to a relative L2 error of 4.3e-16 to
5.3e-16 for a band-limited field (measured on three: 64x64 random at
+/-50 um, a 64x64 Gaussian at +/-250 um, a 128x128 random at +/-500 um);
total power is conserved to between 0 and 3.5e-16 relative on the same
three. A field *with*
evanescent content does not round-trip — those components are gone by
construction, in both directions, because that is what physically happens.
*field* is a field in the space domain, not a spectrum: do not hand it
the fftshifted output of :func:complexops.cx_fft. Real input is promoted
to complex, which loses nothing.
Aliasing: the discrete transfer function is periodic, so a field that
diffracts past the array edge wraps around. The practical guard is the
usual one — pad the field so the propagated support stays inside, and keep
`pixel_pitch_um below lambda/(2*NA)`. No warning can detect this
reliably from the array alone, so none is invented.
Raises `ValueError`: *field* is not 2-D, smaller than 2x2, larger than
:data:MAX_FIELD_ELEMENTS, masked, or non-finite; non-positive or
non-finite *wavelength_um* / *pixel_pitch_um*; non-finite *distance_um*.
Every optics op validates its input before computing (nothing slips through silently):
• Units are baked into the argument name — _mm / _um / _deg / _mrad. Confusing mm with µm does not crash; it yields a plausible-looking wrong answer, so the name prevents it. Nothing here guesses the unit from the magnitude.
• **Strings raise ValueError** — float('50') succeeds, so an unparsed configuration value would slip through as a length (measured: thin_lens('50', '200') returned a plausible 66.667 mm). bool is refused too, as the implicit promotion True == 1.
• **complex / masked arrays raise ValueError (real-valued slots only; silently dropping the imaginary part or peeling off the mask is refused). NaN/Inf raises ValueError on every input.**
• Division by zero and its relatives are refused by name: focal length 0, radius of curvature 0, refractive index <= 0, a fully opaque aperture (all zeros, so the normalisation is 0/0), a PSF whose sum is <= 0, a Stokes vector with S0 = 0, and an object sitting at the front focal point (the image is at infinity).
• Only two ops return a non-finite value, and both state it as a contract: depth_of_field returns far_mm = inf beyond the hyperfocal distance (that is what the hyperfocal distance means), and gaussian_beam returns wavefront_radius_mm = inf at the waist (the radius of curvature of a plane wavefront). Both also return a finite companion (far_is_infinite / curvature_per_mm). **Any other silent NaN/Inf is detected internally and raises ValueError** — "float64 overflowed" and "the answer is infinite" are different claims, so the first is never returned wearing the face of the second.
• Size caps: generated grids are capped by optics.MAX_GRID (4096); supplied fields/PSFs/apertures by optics.MAX_FIELD_ELEMENTS (2^24); ABCD element chains by optics.MAX_SYSTEM_ELEMENTS (1024); Zernike by MAX_ZERNIKE_TERMS (512) / MAX_ZERNIKE_ORDER (40) / MAX_ZERNIKE_BASIS (2^25). This closes, fail-closed, the paths where a small argument triggers a huge internal allocation (measured: n_max=40 × 4096² needs 108 GB).
• Physically impossible states are refused too: a Stokes vector with degree of polarisation > 1, negative transmittance, negative intensity, and invalid Zernike indices such as n-|m| odd.
• Sample-data catalog (download URLs / licences) — 2-D uses skimage.data (BSD/public domain) plus synthetic images; 3-D lists download URLs for real data sources (Stanford, PDS, …).
• Operator provenance and references — the sources of the research/methods this op family came from.
• The canonical algorithm (author, year) and its uses are named in the family usage guide above.
• optics_imaging — py -3.11 examples/optics_imaging.py
cimage as input)wave)airy_pattern · fraunhofer_pattern · gaussian_beam
*Provenance: optics.py — OPTICS operator registry. This per-op note is generated by tools/opdocs.py md (do not hand-edit).*
© 2026 Kazufumi Furuse — Fullseye operator documentation. Licensed under Apache-2.0.