Simulation of the phase change of a laser beam as it passes through two cylindrical lenses, with one slowly rotated relative to the other. Notice how the phase changes from being purely astigmatic to spherical, and back.
Perturbations

Official website of the Structured Light Laboratory at the University of the Witwatersrand
Simulation of the phase change of a laser beam as it passes through two cylindrical lenses, with one slowly rotated relative to the other. Notice how the phase changes from being purely astigmatic to spherical, and back.