Elegant Ince–Gaussian beams

The existence of elegant Ince-Gaussian beams that constitute a third complete family of exact and biorthogonal elegant solutions of the paraxial wave equation is demonstrated. Their transverse structure is described by Ince polynomials with a complex argument. Elegant Ince-Gaussian beams constitute exact and continuous transition modes between elegant Laguerre-Gaussian and elegant Hermite-Gaussian beams. The expansion formulas among the three elegant families are derived.