title: Stable aggregates of flexible elements give a stronger link between rays and waves.
abstract: A recently proposed ray-based method for wave propagation is used to provide a meaningful criterion for the validity of rays in wave theory. This method assigns a Gaussian contribution to each ray in order to estimate the field. Such contributions are inherently flexible. By means of a simple example, it is shown that superior field estimates can result when the contributions are no longer forced to evolve like parabasal beamlets.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Forbes