Abstract
Starting from the well-known description of a first-order optical system by means of its ABCD matrix, a propagation law for the second-order moments of the Wigner distribution function of partially coherent light in such a system is derived. It is shown that these second-order moments can be described by two parameters: a real parameter, which measures the overall coherence of the light and which remains invariant on propagation, and a complex parameter, whose propagation law takes the bilinear form that also describes the propagation of the complex beam parameter of a complex coherent Gaussian beam.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 173-181 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Optik : International Journal for Light and Electron Optics |
| Volume | 82 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 1989 |