Correlation visibility and generalized Siegert relation for random light beams

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Cui, Yi, Hou, Wanting, Xiong, Jun, Ye, Zhiyuan
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Cui, Yi
Hou, Wanting
Xiong, Jun
Ye, Zhiyuan
author_facet Cui, Yi
Hou, Wanting
Xiong, Jun
Ye, Zhiyuan
contents Phase difference is central to classical coherence theory. With the advancement of various light-field modulation techniques, artificially generated pseudo-thermal light sources or random light beams can exhibit exotic wavefront correlation properties. However, such spatial wavefront correlations cannot be fully characterized using the phase difference alone. For instance, for a pair of conjugate pseudo-thermal beams, the spatial wavefronts exhibit a significant anti-correlation, meaning that the sum of their wavefronts tends to be constant. In this work, we propose the concept of degree of wavefront correlation $p^{(1)}$, ranging symmetrically from $-1$ to $+1$, for numerically calculating the wavefront correlation properties among various pseudo-thermal light sources, and the sign (positive or negative) can be used to determine the tendency-whether it leans toward wavefront-difference or wavefront-sum correlation. Numerical results demonstrate that the classical Siegert relation does not apply to pseudo-thermal light sources that exhibit wavefront-sum correlation properties. To address this, we propose a generalization valid for all Gaussian pseudo-thermal light. Experimentally, we introduce the measurable quantities of correlation visibility $\mathcal{V}_g$ and correlation background $μ_g$, which form a two-dimensional classification framework $\{μ_g,\mathcal{V}_g\}$ that enables the experimental characterization of diverse Gaussian pseudo-thermal light using a common-path interferometer and intensity correlation measurement. Furthermore, the correlation visibility $\mathcal{V}_g$ can serve as an observable criterion for a zero-mean, non-circularly symmetric, and jointly Gaussian distribution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_23788
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Correlation visibility and generalized Siegert relation for random light beams
Cui, Yi
Hou, Wanting
Xiong, Jun
Ye, Zhiyuan
Optics
Phase difference is central to classical coherence theory. With the advancement of various light-field modulation techniques, artificially generated pseudo-thermal light sources or random light beams can exhibit exotic wavefront correlation properties. However, such spatial wavefront correlations cannot be fully characterized using the phase difference alone. For instance, for a pair of conjugate pseudo-thermal beams, the spatial wavefronts exhibit a significant anti-correlation, meaning that the sum of their wavefronts tends to be constant. In this work, we propose the concept of degree of wavefront correlation $p^{(1)}$, ranging symmetrically from $-1$ to $+1$, for numerically calculating the wavefront correlation properties among various pseudo-thermal light sources, and the sign (positive or negative) can be used to determine the tendency-whether it leans toward wavefront-difference or wavefront-sum correlation. Numerical results demonstrate that the classical Siegert relation does not apply to pseudo-thermal light sources that exhibit wavefront-sum correlation properties. To address this, we propose a generalization valid for all Gaussian pseudo-thermal light. Experimentally, we introduce the measurable quantities of correlation visibility $\mathcal{V}_g$ and correlation background $μ_g$, which form a two-dimensional classification framework $\{μ_g,\mathcal{V}_g\}$ that enables the experimental characterization of diverse Gaussian pseudo-thermal light using a common-path interferometer and intensity correlation measurement. Furthermore, the correlation visibility $\mathcal{V}_g$ can serve as an observable criterion for a zero-mean, non-circularly symmetric, and jointly Gaussian distribution.
title Correlation visibility and generalized Siegert relation for random light beams
topic Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23788