We study Bessel X waves with cone dispersion propagating in free space and dispersive media. Their propagation features find simple explanation when viewed as cylindrically symmetric versions of the so-called tilted pulses. All previously reported cases of suppression of normal material group velocity dispersion by using angular dispersion in tilted pulses, pulsed Bessel beams, and Bessel X waves are compared and presented in a unified way. We show that stationary, spatiotemporal localized Bessel X-wave transmission is also possible in the anomalous dispersion regime.

• Received 8 February 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.68.016613