Polarization ray picture of coherence for vectorial electromagnetic waves

Journal Article · Mon Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 2007 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.76.043827· OSTI ID:21020822

Luis, Alfredo ^[1]

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1. Departamento de Optica, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Complutense 28040 Madrid (Spain)

We elucidate a ray picture of coherence for vectorial electromagnetic waves by using the Stokes parameters for light rays defined by the optical Wigner function. Paraxial propagation is formulated as a complementary Huygens principle. We show that the degrees of coherence are averages of the phase difference where the weights are the Stokes parameters for light rays. We analyze the van Cittert-Zernike theorem for vectorial waves in terms of ray propagation. We show that simple polarization measurements in a Young interferometer determine the degrees of coherence for vectorial electromagnetic waves.

• OSTI ID: 21020822
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 76; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COHERENT RADIATION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
HUYGENS PRINCIPLE
INTERFERENCE
INTERFEROMETERS
LIGHT TRANSMISSION
OPTICS
POLARIZATION
POLYNOMIALS
STOKES PARAMETERS
WAVE PROPAGATION