Engineering parabolic beams with dynamic intensity profiles.

We present optical fields formed by superposing nondiffracting parabolic beams with distinct longitudinal wave-vector components, generating light profiles that display intensity fluxes following parabolic paths in the transverse plane. Their propagation dynamics vary depending on the physical mechanism originating interference, where the possibilities include constructive and destructive interference between traveling parabolic beams, interference between stationary parabolic modes, and combinations of these. The dark parabolic region exhibited by parabolic beams permits a straightforward superposition of intensity fluxes, allowing formation of a variety of profiles, which can exhibit circular, elliptic, and other symmetries.