Abstract
We present a novel, self-consistent analytical model of Gaussian-beam propagation through the atmospheric turbulence by solving the paraxial wave equation in a fractional-dimension space of dimension D, in the range 2 < D <= 3, corresponding to the effective spatial dimension experienced by the beam under given turbulent conditions in a free space optical (FSO) communication system. The well-known refractive index structure parameter (C-n(2)) has been mapped from D = 2.668 (C-n(2) approximate to 10(-13), strong fluctuations) to D = 2.999 (C-n(2) approximate to 10(-16), weak fluctuations) in our simple analytical model, whereas D =3 corresponds to the ideal case of free-space propagation under zero turbulence. Finally, an optimization problem is developed to mitigate the effects of atmospheric turbulence, leading to efficient transceiver design for the FSO communication system to ensure the reliability of links under varying atmospheric turbulence. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement