Geometric limits to geometric optical imaging with infinite, planar, non-absorbing sheets
Abstract
New ray-optical elements allow generalized refraction of light rays, but geometry imposes limitations on possible mappings between the positions of an object and its geometric image. Here I study the case of an infinite, planar, non-absorbing sheet that images the entire three-dimensional space. The most general case of such a sheet is equivalent to a thin lens with different object- and image-sided focal lengths. Special cases include ordinary thin lenses, confocal lenslet arrays, and negative refraction with n2 = -n1.
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