Space-time coherence of polychromatic propagation-invariant fields.
Polychromatic stationary propagation-invariant fields with complete spatial coherence in the space-frequency domain are considered. In general, the field is shown to be spatially partially coherent in the space-time domain, apart from transversely achromatic fields with complete transverse coherence. Particular attention is paid to fields that possess the same cone angle at each frequency; these are stationary counterparts of pulsed conical fields known as X waves. It is shown that, for such fields, the radius of the space-time-domain transverse coherence area depends critically on the bandwidth of the power spectrum and can be comparable to the central-lobe radius of the monochromatic field component at the peak frequency of the spectrum.
Turunen
Jari
J
University of Joensuu, Department of Physics and Mathematics, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland. jari.turunen@joensuu.fi
D003116:Color; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D008027:Light; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012031:Refractometry / Q000379:methods*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation