X-ray coherent diffraction interpreted through the fractional Fourier transform

We propose to use the fractional Fourier transform to deal with diffraction of coherent X-ray beams from the Fresnel to the Fraunhofer regime. We will illustrate the benefits of the approach compared to the Fresnel wave propagation theory from situations commonly encountered in diffraction experiments: the successive diffraction of two objects and coherent diffraction of a periodic modulation as a charge density wave, containing or not a phase shift.