Correlation-induced changes in the degree of polarization, the degree of coherence, and the spectrum of random electromagnetic beams on propagation

摘要

A method is described, based on a recently formulated unified theory of coherence and polarization, for determining the changes that the degree of polarization, the degree of coherence, and the spectrum of a random electromagnetic beam may undergo as the beam propagates. Propagation in free space as well as in linear media, both deterministic and random, is discussed. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America. [References: 8]