title: Vector mode analysis of a young interferometer.
abstract: It is proved that, when the vector modal theory of coherence is applied to a pair of fixed points, exact results are obtained for the mode structure. In particular, it is shown that the field radiated by the pinholes of a Young interferometer can always be represented by the incoherent superposition of no more than four perfectly correlated and polarized modes. The role of such modes is illustrated through a simple example.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università Roma Tre, Via della Vasca Navale 84, Rome I-00146, Italy. gori@uniroma3.it
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gori
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santarsiero
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borghi