Abstract

The chronocylic representation¹ is a way to display an ultrashort light pulse in a time-frequency space. It uses the Wigner distribution function applied to the complex electric field of the pulse. It thus contains both the amplitude and phase information but is a two-dimensional real function, although it can take negative values. Its mathematical properties make it as close as possible to a representation of the energy distribution of the pulse as a function of both time and frequency.

© 1994 Optical Society of America