Temporal Paraxial Optics under Adiabatic Modulations

Abstract

This paper presents a temporal paraxial formulation for the propagation of ultrashort optical pulses in time-modulated media with slowly varying refractive index. By deriving the paraxial wave equation directly in the time domain from the Helmholtz equation under an adiabatic approximation, the model remains analytically tractable while extending paraxial optics beyond time-invariant backgrounds commonly treated by frequency-domain expansions. The resulting equation preserves a Schr\"odinger-like structure in the presence of explicit temporal modulation and admits closed-form solutions for ultrashort Gaussian pulses. The framework supports a Green's-function description and an operator-based Hamiltonian formalism, from which an ABCD matrix representation for temporal propagation in time-varying media is obtained. The results demonstrate that temporal modulation provides an active means to control ultrashort pulse dynamics, enabling tailored evolution of pulse characteristics such as temporal width and chirp, with potential applications in ultrafast pulse shaping and a direct connection to temporal wave-packet dynamics.