In this paper we are concerned with the propagation of a light beam through an inhomogeneous, isotropic medium with a possibly nonlinear index of refraction. The customary paraxial approximations of neglecting grad $\mathrm{div}\mathcal{E}$ and seeking a plane-polarized solution are shown to be incompatible with the exact Maxwell equations. By starting from Maxwell's equations, and scaling transverse and longitudinal distances by the beam waist $w_0$ and diffraction length $l$, respectively, an expansion procedure in powers of $\frac{w_0}{l}$ is developed. The exact equations obeyed by the zeroth-order fields are not Maxwell's equations but the customary paraxial approximation to Maxwell's equations. Equations for the first-, second-, and third-order fields are developed. The first-order field is found to be a longitudinal field. It is solved for explicitly in terms of the zeroth-order field which is transverse. Thus a precise knowledge of the meaning and accuracy of paraxial wave optics is obtained.

• Received 22 October 1974

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.11.1365