Spectra of absolute instruments from the WKB approximation

Abstract

We calculate frequency spectra of absolute optical instruments using the WKB approximation. The resulting eigenfrequencies approximate the actual values very accurately, in some cases they even give the exact values. Our calculations confirm results obtained previously by a completely different method. In particular, the eigenfrequencies of absolute instruments form tight groups that are almost equidistantly spaced. We demonstrate our method and its results on several examples.