Energy flow lines and the spot of Poisson-Arago

Abstract : We show how energy flow lines answer the question about diffraction phenomena posed in 1818 by the French Academy: "Deduce by mathematical induction the movements of the rays during their crossing near the bodies." The use of energy flow lines provides a complementary answer to Fresnel's wave theory of light. A numerical simulation of the energy flow lines shows that they can reach the bright spot of Poisson-Arago in the shadow center of a circular opaque disk. For a monochromatic wave in vacuum, these energy flow lines correspond to the diffracted rays of Newton's Opticks.