Summary
Up to now the degree of coherence of a wave field was only defined on the basis of a scalar wave theory. In the present paper a generalization is proposed applicable to any quasi-monochromatic stationary electromagnetic field. This « electromagnetic degree of coherence », which is a single scalar quantity, is introduced from the analysis of an interference experiment and it is shown to be related to the trace of the correlation tensor of the electric field introduced byE. Wolf in 1954.
Riassunto
Sinora si era definito il grado di corenza di un ocampo d’onde solo sulla base della teoria ondulatoria scalare. Nel presente articolo si propone una generalizzazione applicabile ad ogni campo elettromagnetico stazionario quasi monocromatico. Si introduce questo « grado di coerenza elettromagnetico », che è una grandezza scalare singola, in base all’analisi di un esperimento di interferenza e si dimostra che esso è legato alla traccia del tensore di correlazione del campo elettrico introdotto daE. Wolf nel 1954.
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This research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
On leave of absence from Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw.
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Karczewski, B. Coherence theory of the electromagnetic field. Nuovo Cim 30, 906–915 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02750424
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02750424