Tervo et al. Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004 / J. Opt. Soc. Am.

A 2205

Theory of partially coherent electromagnetic fields

in the space–frequency domain

Jani Tervo
University of Joensuu, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland

Tero Setälä
Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Engineering Physics and Mathematics, P.O. Box 2200,
FI-02015 HUT, Finland

Ari T. Friberg
Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Microelectronics and Information Technology, Electrum 229,
SE-164 40 Kista, Sweden

Received February 24, 2004; revised manuscript received June 7, 2004; accepted June 16, 2004
We construct the coherent-mode representation for fluctuating, statistically stationary electromagnetic fields.
The modes are shown to be spatially fully coherent in the sense of a recently introduced spectral degree of
electromagnetic coherence. We also prove that the electric cross-spectral density tensor can be rigorously ex-
pressed as a correlation tensor averaged over an appropriate ensemble of strictly monochromatic vectorial
wave functions. The formalism is demonstrated for partially polarized, partially coherent Gaussian Schell-
model beams, but the theory applies to arbitrary random electromagnetic fields and can find applications in
radiation and propagation and in inverse problems. © 2004 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: 030.1640, 260.5430, 030.6600, 260.2110.

1. INTRODUCTION electromagnetic fields. To remedy this situation new

The coherent-mode representation of fluctuating scalar
wave fields is a central result in the investigations of par-
tial optical coherence in the space–frequency domain
[Ref. 1, Sects. 4.3.2 and 4.7]. The essence of the method
is that the cross-spectral density function of the field is
decomposed into elementary modes that are spatially
fully coherent and can therefore be analyzed by means of
coherent optics. Moreover, the coherent-mode decompo-
sition also leads to a rigorous representation of the cross-
spectral density as a correlation function over an en-
semble of monochromatic functions, which is important
from both the fundamental and the practical points of
view. Although the coherent-mode theory had already
been formulated in optics two decades ago2–5 and has
proved successful—for example, in studies of
propagation,6–15 scattering,16,17 and inverse source
problems18–21 (see Ref. 22)—its electromagnetic extension
has attracted much less attention until lately.23
In many cases of practical interest the scalar theory of
optical fields is not adequate. Today, situations in which
the polarization properties of light play a key role are en-
countered at an increasing rate, including areas such as
interaction of light with media,24 near-field microscopy
and near-field optics,25 and fiber optics.26 These investi-
gations, however, often consider only special beamlike or
far-field geometries or deal with monochromatic waves,
ignoring the random character of light. This is perhaps
because no well-developed tools have so far been available
for analyzing three-dimensional, nonparaxial, fluctuating
measures for assessing the degree of polarization27,28 and
the degree of coherence29 of general three-dimensional
electromagnetic fields were quite recently proposed.
Physically these quantities characterize the average cor-
relations between the orthogonal electric field compo-
nents, the degree of polarization at a single point, and the
degree of coherence at a pair of points. Later it was
shown that the space–frequency analog of the degree of
coherence defined in Ref. 29 leads to the conclusion that
the field at a given frequency is fully coherent if, and only
if, its cross-spectral density tensor factors in the two spa-
tial variables.30 On the other hand, the concept of com-
plete electromagnetic coherence in the space–time do-
main was shown31 to lead to results analogous to those of
the scalar approach.32
In this paper we develop the full electromagnetic
theory of coherent modes in the space–frequency domain.
In analogy with the scalar case, the modes consist of prod-
ucts of eigenfunctions of the vector-form, homogeneous,
Fredholm integral equation weighted by the correspond-
ing eigenvalues, which in turn are directly related to the
energy distribution among the modes. Furthermore with
the help of the electromagnetic, coherent-mode represen-
tation we construct an ensemble of monochromatic vecto-
rial wave functions and show that the cross-spectral den-
sity tensor is equal to their correlation tensor.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 the ba-
sic results of the scalar theory of coherent modes are
briefly reviewed. Section 3 recalls the various properties

1084-7529/2004/112205-11$15.00 © 2004 Optical Society of America

2206 J. Opt. Soc. Am. A / Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004
of the (electric) cross-spectral density tensor on which the
subsequent sections are based. The electromagnetic
coherent-mode representation is derived in Sections 4 and
5, and the relationship between the effective degree of co-
herence and the energy distribution among the modes is
established in Section 6. In Section 7 the cross-spectral
density tensor then is expressed as a correlation tensor
over an ensemble of monochromatic vector functions. In
Section 8 as an illustrative example, the coherent-mode
decomposition of a partially polarized, partially coherent,
Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) beam is explicitly con-
structed. Finally the main results and conclusions are
summarized in Section 9.
2. SCALAR COHERENCE THEORY
We begin with a short review of the central results of
Wolf ’s scalar theory of partial coherence in the space–
frequency domain.2–5 The second-order correlation prop-
erties of a statistically stationary, partially coherent, sca-
lar wavefield in the space–frequency domain are
described by the cross-spectral density function
W(r1 , r2 , ␻ ), where r1 and r2 are the position vectors of
two arbitrary points and ␻ is the angular frequency. It
was shown by Wolf2,3 (see Ref. 33) that under very general
conditions the scalar cross-spectral density may be repre-
sented as a sum of completely coherent34 but mutually
uncorrelated modes, i.e.,
W 共 r 1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兺 ␭ 共 ␻ 兲 ␺ *共 r
n
n n 1, ␻ 兲 ␺ n 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 .
Here ␭ n and ␺ n are the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions,
respectively, of the homogeneous Fredholm integral equa-
tion of the second kind,
冕 D
W 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ␺ n 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 d3 r 1 ⫽ ␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 ␺ n 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 ,
where the integration is performed over the domain D un-
der consideration. Because of the Hermiticity and the
nonnegative definiteness of W(r1 , r2 , ␻ ), all eigenvalues
␭ n are real and nonnegative, and they may be understood
to represent the energy distribution among the modes.
In view of the formula
冕 D
* 共 r, ␻ 兲 ␺ n 共 r, ␻ 兲 d3 r ⫽ ␦ mn ,
␺m
where ␦ mn is the Kronecker delta symbol, the eigenfunc-
tions ␺ n form an orthonormal (but not necessarily
complete)35 set of functions in D, and the asterisk denotes
complex conjugation.
Although the representation in Eq. (1) alone is ex-
tremely useful in the analysis of partially coherent fields,
conceptually perhaps a more important result of Wolf ’s
theory is that the cross-spectral density may rigorously be
expressed as a correlation function in the space–
frequency domain. More specifically there exists an en-
semble of monochromatic oscillations 兵 U(r, ␻ )exp(⫺i␻t)其,
where t is the time, such that
W 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 具 U * 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 U 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 典 ,
Tervo et al.
where the angle brackets denote ensemble averaging.
This result is far from trivial because the traditional way
of approaching the space–frequency analysis is to employ
the Fourier transforms of the space–time field realiza-
tions. Clearly such a method cannot lead to a represen-
tation of the form of Eq. (4), since a statistically station-
ary random process does not admit of a Fourier
representation within the context of ordinary function
theory.
Although Wolf ’s theory today is routinely used in scalar
optics, it does not provide tools for a rigorous treatment of
partially coherent electromagnetic fields save for a few
special cases. In the following, we focus on expanding
Wolf ’s scalar analysis into the space–frequency domain of
random electromagnetic fields. As is usual in the analy-
sis of optical phenomena, we consider only the behavior of
the electric field, which greatly simplifies the analysis.
This does not, however, decrease the generality of the re-
sults, since the magnetic field is obtained from the electric
field with the help of Maxwell’s equations.
3. DEFINITION OF THE CROSS-SPECTRAL
DENSITY TENSOR
The bases for the coherence theory of fluctuating electro-
magnetic fields in the space–time domain were provided
by Roman and Wolf over 40 years ago.36,37 The second-
order coherence properties of an electromagnetic field are
fully contained in four 3 ⫻ 3 mutual coherence tensors
(1) that describe the correlations between the components of
the electric and magnetic field vectors. In particular, for
statistically stationary fields (at least in the wide sense)
the electric mutual-coherence tensor E(r1 , r2 , ␶ )
⫽ 关 Eij (r1 , r2 , ␶ ) 兴 , where r1 and r2 represent two points
in space and ␶ is the time difference, is defined as a cor-
relation tensor38
E共 r1 , r2 , ␶ 兲 ⫽ 具 E* 共 r1 , t 兲 E共 r2 , t ⫹ ␶ 兲 典 . (5)
(2)
Here E(r, t) denotes a realization of the electric field at a
point r and at time t, and we have used the dyadic nota-
tion. The formalism employed in this paper remains the
same regardless of whether the field is paraxial; for beam-
like wave fields the tensors contain only four elements,
and the electric field is a vector with two instead of three
components.
(3)
The definition in Eq. (5) implies that the tensor E is
Hermitian in the sense36 (see also Ref. 1, Sec. 6.5)
E共 r2 , r1 , ⫺␶ 兲 ⫽ E† 共 r1 , r2 , ␶ 兲 , (6)
where the dagger stands for the Hermitian adjoint. In
addition it readily follows from Eq. (5) that the mutual co-
herence tensor satisfies the nonnegative definiteness
condition39 (Ref. 1, Sect. 6.5.1)
冕冕 冕冕 f* 共 r1 , t 1 兲 • E共 r1 , r2 , t 2 ⫺ t 1 兲
• f共 r2 , t 2 兲 d3 r 1 dt 1 d3 r 2 dt 2 ⭓ 0, (7)
where f(r, t) ⫽ 关 f i (r, t) 兴 is an arbitrary, sufficiently well-
behaved, vector-valued function, and the domains of inte-
(4) gration are arbitrary.
Tervo et al. Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004 / J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 2207

In the following analysis we assume that the correla- element. These assumptions lead44 to the conclusion
tions die out sufficiently rapidly as 兩 ␶ 兩 → ⬁ to ensure that that the elements of the cross-spectral density tensor also
the elements of E are absolutely integrable with respect are continuous within D, and thus
to ␶, i.e.,

冕 ⬁
兩 Eij 共 r1 , r2 , ␶ 兲 兩 d␶ ⬍ ⬁, (8)
冕冕
D D
兩 Wij 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 兩 2 d3 r 1 d3 r 2 ⬍ ⬁. (15)

⫺⬁
Equation (15) also implies the square integrability of the
for all r1 苸 D and r2 苸 D, where D is the spatial domain Frobenius norm of W,
of interest. The absolute integrability of correlation
functions implies their square integrability,40
冕冕 储 W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲储 F2d3 r 1 d3 r 2 ⬍ ⬁, (16)

冕 ⫺⬁
⬁
兩 Eij 共 r1 , r2 , ␶ 兲 兩 2 d␶ ⬍ ⬁, (9)
D D

a result that will be needed in justifying a mode expan-

sion for W later.
and thus we especially have By combining the Hermiticity relation of Eq. (6) with

冕 ⫺⬁
⬁
储 E共 r1 , r2 , ␶ 兲储 F2d␶ ⬍ ⬁. (10)
Eq. (12), we see at once that the cross-spectral density
tensor is Hermitian in the sense

W共 r2 , r1 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ W† 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 . (17)
Here 储 • 储 F is the Frobenius (or Euclidean) norm41 defined
through In addition, it follows from relations (7) and (12) that W
m m obeys the nonnegative definiteness condition
兺 兺 兩A
储 A储 F2 ⫽ tr共 A–A† 兲 ⫽ ij 兩
冕冕
2
, (11)
i⫽1 j⫽1 g* 共 r1 兲 • W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 • g共 r2 兲 d3 r 1 d3 r 2 ⭓ 0,
where A may be any m ⫻ m matrix (tensor) and tr stands (18)
for the trace.
where the integration is performed over an arbitrary do-
As is well known in the theory of Fourier transforma-
main and the function g(r) ⫽ 关 g i (r) 兴 may be arbitrary as
tions (see, e.g., Ref. 42), relations (8) and (9) form a suffi-
long as the integrals exist. The proof of Eq. (18) is not
cient condition for the existence of the Fourier frequency
straightforward, and therefore the main details are pre-
transform
sented in Appendix A.

Wij 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽
1
2␲
冕 ⫺⬁
⬁
Eij 共 r1 , r2 , ␶ 兲 exp共 i ␻ ␶ 兲 d␶ ,
4. COHERENT-MODE REPRESENTATION OF
(12) THE CROSS-SPECTRAL DENSITY
which is continuous with respect to ␻, and its inverse TENSOR
transform Let us next examine how the coherent-mode representa-

Eij 共 r1 , r2 , ␶ 兲 ⫽ 冕 0
⬁
Wij 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 exp共 ⫺i ␻ ␶ 兲 d␻ ,
tion may be extended to the domain of electromagnetic
optics and how this kind of approach differs from the sca-
lar case. One should observe that although the scalar
(13) theory of partial coherence could be applied separately to
where the lower limit of integration is zero because we each component of the electric field, such an approach
use the analytic signal representation of the electric field would give us only the representation of the diagonal el-
(Ref. 1, Sect. 6.6.1). The tensor W(r1 , r2 , ␻ ) ements of W in terms of scalar coherent modes, i.e.,
⫽ 关 Wij (r1 , r2 , ␻ ) 兴 above is called the (electric) cross-
spectral density tensor39 (see also Ref. 1, Sec. 6.6). As in
the scalar theory2,3 we define the cross-spectral density
W jj 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兺␭
n
j,n 共 ␻ 兲 ␺ j,n
* 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 ␺ j,n 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 .

tensor through the relation in Eq. (12) rather than by us-
ing frequency-domain field representations39 (Ref. 1, Sec.
6.6.1). It is further emphasized that the elements of the
cross-spectral density tensor are also square integrable
with respect to ␻,
(19)
Unfortunately, the representations of the off-diagonal el-
ements would still remain unknown,45 since the eigen-
functions ␺ j,n may be completely different for each elec-
tric field component. These fundamental problems may

冕 0
⬁
兩 Wij 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 兩 2 d␻ ⬍ ⬁,
as a consequence of Parseval’s (or Plancherel’s) relation.43
In analogy with Wolf ’s scalar theory2,3 our second as-
sumption is that the elements Eij be continuous in the do-
main D, in which we examine the field properties. In
(14)
be avoided if we do not treat the electric field components
independently of each other but instead make use of the
theory recently applied to the beam-coherence-
polarization matrix46,47 by Gori et al.23
We start our analysis by considering a Hilbert space of
vector valued complex functions square integrable in D
and with the inner product 兵,其 defined by23

冕
this connection we also assume that each element Eij be
uniformly bounded in domain D by an integrable function 兵 a共 r兲 , b共 r兲 其 ⫽ a* 共 r兲 • b共 r兲 d3 r. (20)
of ␶. This function may, in principle, be different for each D
2208 J. Opt. Soc. Am. A / Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004 Tervo et al.

As is shown in Ref. 23, relations (16)–(18) imply finite-

ness, Hermiticity, and nonnegative definiteness, respec- 兺 ⳵ E 共r
i
1
i ij 1, r2 , ␶ 兲 ⫽ 兺 ⳵ E 共r
j
2
j ij 1, r2 , ␶ 兲 ⫽ 0, (27)
tively, of a corresponding operator in the Hilbert space.
It then follows from the spectral theorem that the cross- where ⵜ k2 and ⳵ jk , k ⫽ (1, 2), operate with respect to the
spectral density tensor may be expanded as an absolutely coordinate rk and c is the speed of light in vacuum.
and uniformly convergent Mercer-type series On Fourier transforming Eqs. (26) and (27) with re-
spect to ␶ and making use of Eq. (12) and the relation54
兺 ␭ 共 ␻ 兲 ␾* 共 r
冕冋 册 冕
W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ n n 1, ␻ 兲 ␾n 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 , ⬁ d ⬁
n
f 共 ␶ 兲 exp共 i ␻ ␶ 兲 d␶ ⫽ ⫺i ␻ f 共 ␶ 兲 exp共 i ␻ ␶ 兲 d␶ ,
(21) ⫺⬁ d␶ ⫺⬁

where ␭ n ( ␻ ) and ␾n (r, ␻ ) ⫽ 关 ␾ i,n (r, ␻ ) 兴 are the eigen- (28)

values and the vector-valued eigenfunctions, respectively, where f may be any function for which the Fourier trans-
of the Fredholm integral equation form exists, we readily obtain

冕 D
␾n 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 • W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 d3 r 1 ⫽ ␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 ␾n 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 .
ⵜ k2 W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ ⫺共 ␻ /c 兲 2 W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 , (29)

(22) 兺 ⳵ W 共r
i
1
i ij 1, r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兺 ⳵ W 共r
j
2
j ij 1, r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 0.
The eigenvalues are real and nonnegative, and the eigen- (30)
functions satisfy the orthonormality condition
Equations (29) and (30) are the Helmholtz equation and
兵 ␾m 共 r, ␻ 兲 , ␾n 共 r, ␻ 兲 其 ⫽ ␦ mn , (23) the Maxwell divergence equation, respectively, satisfied
by the electric cross-spectral density tensor in free space.
provided that only one eigenfunction corresponds to one Together they form the propagation laws for partially co-
eigenvalue; i.e., there is no degeneracy.43 If, however, herent electric fields in the space–frequency domain.
two or more eigenfunctions are associated with the same We next insert Eq. (21) into Eq. (29), with k ⫽ 1, oper-
eigenvalue, it is possible that those eigenfunctions are not ate on the resulting equation from the right by
orthogonal. In such a case they can be made orthogonal, • ␾m* (r2 , ␻ ), and integrate over the domain D with re-
for example, by the Gram–Schmidt method.43 Thus even spect to r2 . This yields
if there is degeneracy, we may assume that the orthogo-
nalization has been done and, consequently, that Eq. (23) ⵜ 2 ␾n 共 r, ␻ 兲 ⫹ 共 ␻ /c 兲 2 ␾n 共 r, ␻ 兲 ⫽ 0, (31)
holds even in such a case.
where 0 is a null vector and we have made use of the or-
Equation (21) thus gives us the representation of the
thonormality of the eigenfunctions. By applying essen-
cross-spectral density tensor as an incoherent sum of ten-
tially similar steps to Eq. (30) we obtain55
sors of the form
ⵜ • ␾n 共 r, ␻ 兲 ⫽ 0. (32)
Wn 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ ␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 ␾n* 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 ␾n 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 . (24)
In other words, the eigenfunctions ␾n satisfy both the
We immediately notice that these modes are of a spatially Helmholtz equation and Maxwell’s divergence equation,
factored form, and therefore they are completely coherent and thus they behave just as time-harmonic electric
in the space–frequency domain30 in view of the space– fields.56 It should be noted that Eqs. (31) and (32) imme-
frequency analog of the recently introduced degree of co- diately imply that the tensors Wn also satisfy the equa-
herence for electromagnetic fields29,48: tions

储 W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲储 F ⵜ k2 Wn 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ ⫺共 ␻ /c 兲 2 Wn 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 , (33)
␮ 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ . (25)
关 S 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 S 共 r2 , ␻ 兲兴 1/2

Here S(r, ␻ ) ⫽ tr W(r, r, ␻ ) is the spectral density of

兺⳵W
i
1
i
共n兲
ij 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兺⳵W
j
2
j
共n兲
ij 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 0.

the electric field. (34)

Thus, analogous to the scalar case, we may call
Wn (r1 , r2 , ␻ ) the coherent modes and Eq. (21) the
5. FIELD EQUATIONS OBEYED BY THE coherent-mode representation of the cross-spectral den-
CROSS-SPECTRAL DENSITY TENSOR sity tensor. In addition, we may interpret Eq. (21) as a
Let us next examine the equations governing the behav- representation of the electric cross-spectral density tensor
ior of the cross-spectral density tensor in free space. as an incoherent sum of cross-spectral density tensors
From Maxwell’s equations one may derive the following representing completely coherent electric fields.
equations satisfied by the mutual coherence tensor (Ref.
1, Secs. 6.5.2 and 6.5.3):
6. EFFECTIVE DEGREE OF COHERENCE
1 ⳵2 FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
ⵜ k2 E共 r1 , r2 , ␶ 兲 ⫽ E共 r1 , r2 , ␶ 兲 (26)
c2 ⳵␶ 2 As in the coherent-mode analysis of scalar fields,3 one
may derive various relations between the eigenvalues and
and the properties of the cross-spectral density tensor. One
Tervo et al. Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004 / J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 2209

such relation is obtained by taking the square of the 7. REPRESENTATION OF THE CROSS-
Frobenius norm of W in Eq. (21), which yields SPECTRAL DENSITY TENSOR AS
A CORRELATION TENSOR
储 W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲储 F2 ⫽ 兺 ␭ 共 ␻ 兲␭
n,m
n m 共 ␻ 兲 ␾n
* 共 r1 , ␻兲 We are now in a position to show that the electric cross-
spectral density tensor may be expressed as a correlation
• ␾m 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 ␾m
* 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 • ␾ n 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 . tensor. This is done, in full analogy to the scalar case, by
first constructing an ensemble of vector-valued, mono-
(35) chromatic functions 兵 F(r, ␻ )exp(⫺i␻t)其 such that
We next integrate both sides of Eq. (35) with respect to r1
and r2 over the domain D and make use of Eq. (23). In F共 r, ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兺 a 共 ␻ 兲 ␾ 共 r, ␻ 兲 ,
n
n n (40)
this way we find

冕冕
where a n ( ␻ ) are random (complex) coefficients satisfying

D D
储 W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲储 F2d3 r 1 d3 r 2 ⫽ 兺 ␭ 共 ␻ 兲,
n
2
n (36) the relation
* 共 ␻ 兲 a n 共 ␻ 兲 典 ⫽ ␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 ␦ mn ,
具am (41)
which is an electromagnetic analog of Eq. (4.17) of Ref. 3.
On the other hand Eq. (21) implies that the electric and that
spectral density may be expressed in the form
兺 兩 a 共 ␻ 兲兩
n
2
⬍ ⬁. (42)
S 共 r, ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兺 ␭ 共 ␻ 兲 ␾*共 r, ␻ 兲 • ␾ 共 r, ␻ 兲 .
n
n n (37) n

Here ␾n and ␭ n are the eigenfunctions and the eigenval-

Again, by integrating over the domain D and using Eq. ues, respectively, of the integral Eq. (22) considered in the
(23), we obtain preceding sections. We note that relation (42), together
with the orthonormality condition (23), implies that the

冕 D
S 共 r, ␻ 兲 d3 r ⫽ 兺 ␭ 共 ␻ 兲,
n
n (38)
functions F(r, ␻) are square integrable over the domain
D.
By combining Eqs. (40) and (41), we find that the cross-
which is formally identical to the corresponding formula correlation tensor of the functions F(r, ␻) at points r1 and
for the relation of the scalar spectral density to the eigen- r2 takes on the form
values ␭ n ( ␻ ). In other words, the total spectral density
in the domain D is equal to the sum of the eigenvalues in
both the scalar theory and the electromagnetic analysis.
具 F* 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 F共 r2 , ␻ 兲 典 ⫽ 兺 ␭ 共 ␻ 兲 ␾* 共 r
n
n n 1, ␻ 兲 ␾n 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 .
Let us next combine Eqs. (36), (38), and (25); this leads (43)
to the relation
The right-hand side of Eq. (43) is immediately seen to be

冕冕
D D
S 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 S 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 ␮ 2 共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 d3 r 1 d3 r 2
identical to the right-hand side of Eq. (21), and hence

W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 具 F* 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 F共 r2 , ␻ 兲 典 , (44)

冕冕D D
S 共 r1 , ␻ 兲 S 共 r2 , ␻ 兲 d3 r 1 d3 r 2
which is the desired result.
The only unanswered question is whether there exists
an ensemble of random coefficients satisfying Eqs. (41)

兺 ␭ 共␻兲 2 and (42). To show that such an ensemble may always be

n
n constructed, we again follow the steps taken by Wolf.3

冋兺 册
⫽ 2
, (39) Specifically, if we choose
␭ n共 ␻ 兲 冑␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 exp关 i ␣ n 共 ␻ 兲兴 ,
n
a n共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ (45)

which gives the effective degree of spectral coherence57,58
in the domain D in terms of the eigenvalues ␭ n . This re-
lation between the eigenvalues and the degree of spectral
coherence remains unchanged if scalar fields are studied,
provided of course that ␮ in Eq. (39) is replaced by the ab-
solute value of the complex degree of spectral coherence.
Thus the global behavior of the recently introduced de-
gree of coherence for electromagnetic fields29 (or, more ap-
propriately, its space–frequency analog) is exactly identi-
cal to that of the classical scalar definition. This becomes
even more evident if we recall that the modal theory dis-
cussed in this paper is derived independently of the defi-
nition of Eq. (25) and that the result that the modes are
completely coherent in view of Eq. (25) is a consequence of
the properties of the cross-spectral density tensor itself.
where, for each n, ␣ n is a real-valued random variable
uniformly distributed in the interval 0...2␲ and ␣ m and ␣ n
are statistically uncorrelated if m ⫽ n, we immediately
obtain the relation (41). On the other hand, the square
integrability in Eq. (42) follows from Eqs. (38) and (45)
and the square integrability of the cross-spectral density
tensor.
Since each member of the ensemble 兵 F(r, ␻ )exp(⫺i␻t)其
is a linear combination of the eigenfunctions ␾n (r, ␻ ),
which all satisfy both the Helmholtz Eq. (31) and Max-
well’s divergence Eq. (32), it is clear that the functions
F(r, ␻) themselves obey those equations as well, i.e.,
ⵜ 2 F共 r, ␻ 兲 ⫹ 共 ␻ /c 兲 2 F共 r, ␻ 兲 ⫽ 0, (46)
ⵜ • F共 r, ␻ 兲 ⫽ 0. (47)
2210 J. Opt. Soc. Am. A / Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004 Tervo et al.

Thus we may interpret the functions F(r, ␻) as realiza- We proceed by noting that the product of the exponen-
tions of the electric field at frequency ␻. In other words tial terms in Eq. (48) differs only by a constant factor from
Eq. (44) gives a rigorous definition of the electric cross- the cross-spectral density function of a scalar GSM source
spectral density tensor in terms of frequency-dependent for which the explicit coherent-mode representation al-
electric field realizations. ready is known.6,7 (Ref. 1, Sec. 5.5). Making use of this
observation, we may write
⬁
8. EXAMPLE: PARTIALLY POLARIZED
GAUSSIAN SCHELL-MODEL BEAM W共 x 1 , x 2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ J共 ␻ 兲 兺
n⫽0
␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 ␾ n* 共 x 1 , ␻ 兲 ␾ n 共 x 2 , ␻ 兲 ,
We next apply the theory of the previous sections to ex- (53)
amine the mode structure of uniformly polarized, Gauss- where
ian Schell-model (GSM) beams. We begin with the one-
dimensional case and then discuss its two-dimensional
extension. We take the 2 ⫻ 2 cross-spectral density ten-
sor of the one-dimensional GSM beam to be of the form
␾ n 共 x, ␻ 兲 ⫽ 冉 冊 2c
␲
1/4

冑2 n n!
1
H n 共 x 冑2c 兲 exp共 ⫺cx 2 兲 , (54)

冋 册
with H n (x) being the Hermite polynomial of order n, and
x 12 ⫹ x 22
W共 x 1 , x 2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ J共 ␻ 兲 exp ⫺
4w 0 2 共 ␻ 兲 ␭ n共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 冉 ␲
冊冉1/2
b
冊 n
. (55)

冋 册
a⫹b⫹c a⫹b⫹c
共 x1 ⫺ x2兲2
⫻ exp ⫺ , (48) Furthermore, the parameters a, b, and c (not to be con-
2 ␴ 02共 ␻ 兲 fused with the speed of light c) for which the frequency
dependence is not explicitly written are defined as
where J(␻) is a Hermitian 2 ⫻ 2 matrix defining the (uni-
form) polarization properties of the beam at frequency ␻. 1 1
Furthermore, w 0 and ␴ 0 are the beam width and the a⫽ , b⫽ , c⫽ 冑a 2 ⫹ 2ab.
(transverse) correlation length, respectively, at the waist 4w 0 2 共 ␻ 兲 2 ␴ 02共 ␻ 兲
(56)
plane z ⫽ 0. Direct calculation shows that the spectral
density of the beam is given by The functions ␾ n (x, ␻ ) in Eq. (54) are orthonormal over

冋 册
x2
S 共 x, ␻ 兲 ⫽ tr J共 ␻ 兲 exp ⫺ , (49)
2w 0 2 共 ␻ 兲
and the electromagnetic degree of coherence, introduced
in Eq. (25), assumes the form
the interval ⫺⬁ ⬍ x ⬍ ⬁, i.e.,
兵 ␾ n 共 x, ␻ 兲 , ␾ m 共 x, ␻ 兲 其 ⬁ ⫽ ␦ nm . (57)
Below we will employ Eqs. (53)–(57) to construct the
coherent-mode representations for various electromag-
netic, GSM beams.

␮共 x1 ⫺ x2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 冋 1 ⫹ P 2共 ␻ 兲
2
册 冋
1/2
exp ⫺
共 x1 ⫺ x2兲2
2 ␴ 02共 ␻ 兲
, 册 A. One-Dimensional, Fully Polarized Gaussian
Schell-Model Beam
First we consider the case of a fully polarized GSM beam.
(50)
For such a beam the electric field components in the x and
where P( ␻ ) is the beam’s degree of polarization, given ex- y directions are fully correlated, and consequently the
plicitly by (Ref. 1, Sec. 6.3.3) (Hermitian) tensor J(␻) can be written as (Ref. 1, Sec.
6.3.2)
4 det W共 x, x, ␻ 兲 4 det J共 ␻ 兲
P 2共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 1 ⫺
tr2 W共 x, x, ␻ 兲
⫽1⫺
tr2 J共 ␻ 兲
,

(51)
J共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 冋 J xx
J yx
J xy
J yy
册 ⫽ tr J共 ␻ 兲 ŝ * 共 ␻ 兲 ŝ 共 ␻ 兲 , (58)

and det denotes the determinant. In obtaining Eq. (50) where the unit vector ŝ( ␻ ) is of the form
we have made use of the relation tr A2 ⫽ tr2 A
1
⫺ 2 det A, which holds for 2 ⫻ 2 matrices. In terms of ŝ 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兵 冑J xx û x ⫹ 冑J yy exp关 i arg共 J xy 兲兴 û y 其 .
Eqs. (49) and (50) the cross-spectral density tensor in Eq. 冑tr J共 ␻ 兲
(48) then is expressible as (59)

冋 册 For convenience, we have dropped the explicit ␻ depen-

1/2
J共 ␻ 兲 2
W共 x 1 , x 2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 关 S 共 x 1 , ␻ 兲兴 1/2 dence from the elements of the tensor J(␻). In terms of
tr J共 ␻ 兲 1 ⫹ P 2 共 ␻ 兲 Eq. (58) we can now write the cross-spectral density ten-
sor in the form
⫻ 关 S 共 x 2 , ␻ 兲兴 1/2␮ 共 x 1 ⫺ x 2 , ␻ 兲 . (52)
⬁
We see that apart from a constant tensorial factor, which
contains information about the polarization state, and the
W共 x 1 , x 2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兺
n⫽0
⌳ n 共 ␻ 兲 ␾*
n 共 x 1 , ␻ 兲 ␾n 共 x 2 , ␻ 兲 ,

fact that ␮ (x, ␻ ) is the electromagnetic degree of coher- (60)

ence, this expression is fully analogous to the correspond-
where
ing form of the GSM cross-spectral density function in the
scalar case (see, for example, Ref. 1, Sec. 5.5). ⌳ n 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ tr J共 ␻ 兲 ␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 , (61)
Tervo et al. Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004 / J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 2211

␾n 共 x, ␻ 兲 ⫽ ␾ n 共 x, ␻ 兲 ŝ 共 ␻ 兲 . (62) 1 ⫺ P共 ␻ 兲
D⫽ , 0 ⭐ P 共 ␻ 兲 ⭐ 1. (70)
These are readily seen to be the eigenvalues and ortho- 1 ⫹ P共 ␻ 兲
normal eigenvectors, respectively, of the Fredholm, inte-
Thus the parameter D is a monotonic function of the de-
gral equation (22) with W(x 1 , x 2 , ␻ ) as the kernel.
gree of polarization P( ␻ ) with the extreme values D
Thus Eq. (60) is the coherent-mode representation of a
⫽ 0 and D ⫽ 1 corresponding to fully polarized light
fully polarized electromagnetic GSM beam.
关 P( ␻ ) ⫽ 1 兴 and fully unpolarized light 关 P( ␻ ) ⫽ 0 兴 , re-
spectively.
B. One-Dimensional, Partially Polarized Gaussian
Since the tensors in Eq. (64) represent polarized fields,
Schell-Model Beam
we may factor them as was done in Eq. (58). Hence we
For partially polarized beams, the tensor J(␻) cannot be
write
expressed in the factored form of Eq. (58). However, we
may always write it as the sum of two tensors both corre- J1 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ tr J1 共 ␻ 兲 ŝ 1* 共 ␻ 兲 ŝ 1 共 ␻ 兲 , (71)
sponding to fully polarized fields,59 i.e.,
J2 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ tr J2 共 ␻ 兲 ŝ 2* 共 ␻ 兲 ŝ 2 共 ␻ 兲 , (72)
J共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ J1 共 ␻ 兲 ⫹ J2 共 ␻ 兲 , (63)
where
where

冋 册 冋 册
1
A B C ⫺B ŝ 1 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兵 冑Aû x ⫹ 冑C exp关 i arg共 B 兲兴 û y 其 ,
J1 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽
B* C
, J2 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ D
⫺B * A
, 冑tr J1 共 ␻ 兲
(64) (73)

with the following constraints:

A,C,D ⭓ 0, AC ⫽ 兩 B 兩 . 2
(65)
ŝ 2 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 冑 D
tr J2 共 ␻ 兲
兵 冑Cû x ⫺ 冑A exp关 i arg共 B 兲兴 û y 其 .
(74)
The latter requirement follows from the fact that
det J( ␻ ) ⫽ 0 for fully polarized light. Considering Eqs. Since ŝ 1* • ŝ 2 ⫽ 0, the fields represented by J1 ( ␻ ) and
(64) we observe that the limit D ⫽ 0 corresponds to the J2 ( ␻ ) are orthogonally polarized. Furthermore, Eq. (63)
already examined case of a fully polarized beam. On the states that they are uncorrelated.
other hand the value D ⫽ 1 corresponds to an unpolar- On combining Eqs. (53) and (63) with Eqs. (71) and
ized beam. Clearly we may interpret D as a parameter (72), we readily obtain the following series representation
representing the amount of energy contained in J2 ( ␻ ) for the cross-spectral density tensor of a partially polar-
relative to that in J1 ( ␻ ), since explicitly ized GSM beam
⬁
tr J2 共 ␻ 兲
D⫽
tr J1 共 ␻ 兲
. (66) W共 x 1 , x 2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兺
n⫽0
⌳ 共n1 兲 ␾共n1 兲 * 共 x 1 , ␻ 兲 ␾共n1 兲 共 x 2 , ␻ 兲

Combining Eqs. (63) and (64) we may express the yet- ⬁

unknown parameters A, B, and C in terms of the ele- ⫹ 兺 ⌳ 共n2 兲 ␾共n2 兲 * 共 x 1 , ␻ 兲 ␾共n2 兲 共 x 2 , ␻ 兲 ,

ments of the matrix J(␻) and the parameter D. The re- n⫽0

sult is (75)
J xx ⫺ DJ yy J xy where
A⫽ , B⫽ ,
1 ⫺ D2 1⫺D ⌳ 共n1 兲 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ tr J1 共 ␻ 兲 ␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 , (76)

J yy ⫺ DJ xx ␾共n1 兲 共 x, ␻ 兲 ⫽ ␾ n 共 x, ␻ 兲 ŝ 1 共 ␻ 兲 , (77)
C⫽ , (67)
1⫺D 2
and
where the limit D → 1 can be handled with the help of ⌳ 共n2 兲 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ tr J2 共 ␻ 兲 ␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 , (78)
l’Hospital’s rule. Furthermore, by computing the deter-
minant of J(␻) and using Eq. (67), one obtains ␾共n2 兲 共 x, ␻ 兲 ⫽ ␾ n 共 x, ␻ 兲 ŝ 2 共 ␻ 兲 , (79)

D det J共 ␻ 兲 with ␾ n (x, ␻ ) and ␭ n ( ␻ ) given by Eqs. (54) and (55), re-
⫽ , (68) spectively. It follows directly from the definitions in Eqs.
共 D ⫹ 1 兲2 tr2 J共 ␻ 兲 (73) and (74) that 兵 ␾n( 1 ) (x), ␾m (2)
(x) 其 ⬁ ⫽ 0 for all values of
n and m. Furthermore, Eq. (57) implies that
which, when use is made of Eq. (51), gives the following
two solutions for D: 兵 ␾(nj ) (x), ␾m
( j)
(x) 其 ⬁ ⫽ ␦ nm for j ⫽ (1, 2). It is now an
easy task to verify that ⌳ n( j ) ( ␻ ) and ␾n( j ) (x, ␻ ), with j
1 ⫺ P共 ␻ 兲 1 ⫹ P共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ (1, 2), are the eigenvalues and (orthonormal) eigen-
D1 ⫽ , D2 ⫽ . (69) vectors of the Fredholm integral equation (22), with the
1 ⫹ P共 ␻ 兲 1 ⫺ P共 ␻ 兲
cross-spectral density tensor of Eq. (75) as the kernel.
Since the solution D 2 diverges at the limit P( ␻ ) → 1, we Therefore Eq. (75) is the coherent-mode representation of
neglect it and set the partially polarized electromagnetic GSM beam.
2212 J. Opt. Soc. Am. A / Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004 Tervo et al.

Consider next the distribution of the eigenvalues one associated with the tensor J1 ( ␻ ), is sufficient to rep-
⌳ n( 1 ) ( ␻ ) and ⌳ (n2 ) ( ␻ ) as a function of the index n. We resent the cross-spectral density tensor in Eq. (75). The
readily find that in both sets the behavior of the eigenval- behavior of the ratio
ues is as in the scalar case6,7 (see also Ref. 1, Sec. 5.5), i.e.,
⌳ 共n2 兲 共 ␻ 兲 1 ⫺ P 共 ␻ 兲 ⌳ 共n1 兲 共 ␻ 兲
⌳ 共n j 兲 共 ␻ 兲

⌳ 共0 j 兲 共 ␻ 兲
⫽ 冉 a⫹b⫹c
b
冊 n
, j ⫽ 共 1, 2 兲 , (80) ⌳ 共01 兲 共 ␻ 兲
⫽
1 ⫹ P 共 ␻ 兲 ⌳ 共01 兲 共 ␻ 兲

as a function of n and the global degree of coherence q, is

, (83)

which is equivalently expressed as shown in Fig. 1 by dashed curves. The value of the de-
gree of polarization was set to P( ␻ ) ⫽ 0.6.
⌳ 共n j 兲 共 ␻ 兲
冋 册
n
1
⫽ , C. Two-Dimensional Gaussian Schell-Model Beam
⌳ 共0 j 兲 共 ␻ 兲 共 q/2兲 2 ⫹ 1 ⫹ q 关共 q/2兲 2 ⫹ 1 兴 1/2 Finally, let us consider a two-dimensional GSM beam,11,12
which, for simplicity, is taken to be uniformly fully polar-
j ⫽ 共 1, 2 兲 , (81)
ized. The cross-spectral density tensor of such a beam
where q ⫽ ␴ 0 ( ␻ )/w 0 ( ␻ ). As in the scalar case, q may be assumes the form [cf. Eq. (48)]

冋 册
regarded as a measure of the degree of global coherence7
(Ref. 1, Sec. 5.5) of the beam. For q Ⰷ 1 the beam is spa- x 12 ⫹ x 22 ⫹ y 12 ⫹ y 22
W共 ␳1 , ␳2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ J共 ␻ 兲 exp ⫺
tially highly coherent, and Eq. (81) indicates that, to a 4w 0 2

冋 册
good approximation, only the lowest-order modes in both
series in Eq. (75) are needed to describe the beam. On 共 x1 ⫺ x2兲2 ⫹ 共 y1 ⫺ y2兲2
the other hand, for q Ⰶ 1 the beam is highly incoherent, ⫻ exp ⫺ ,
and a large number of modes—on the order of 1/q—are re- 2 ␴ 02
quired for the beam to be presented adequately. The be- (84)
havior of the ratio ⌳ n( j ) ( ␻ )/⌳ 0( j ) ( ␻ ) as a function of the in-
where ␳j ⫽ (x j , y j ), j ⫽ (1, 2), and J(␻) is a Hermitian
dex n and the global degree of coherence q is illustrated in
2 ⫻ 2 matrix. Note that since the beam is polarized, the
Fig. 1 with solid curves.
tensor J(␻) may be factored according to Eqs. (58) and
We note that the relation between the two sets of eigen-
(59).
values depends on the polarization state of the beam, as is
The spectral density and the electromagnetic degree of
evidenced by the formula
coherence of the beam are readily obtained and are, re-
spectively, of the form
⌳ 共n2 兲 共 ␻ 兲 1 ⫺ P共 ␻ 兲

冋 册
⫽ . (82)
⌳ 共n1 兲 共 ␻ 兲 1 ⫹ P共 ␻ 兲 ␳2
S 共 ␳, ␻ 兲 ⫽ tr J共 ␻ 兲 exp ⫺ , (85)
From this expression we see at once that when the beam 2w 0 2 共 ␻ 兲
is weakly polarized, both series in Eq. (75) are needed to
describe the coherence properties of the field. This is in-
tuitive since the series represent orthogonal polarization
␮ 共 ␳1 ⫺ ␳2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ exp ⫺ 冋 共 ␳1 ⫺ ␳2 兲 2
2 ␴ 02共 ␻ 兲
册 . (86)

states, and in a weakly polarized beam the light energy is

expected to be almost equally distributed among the two In terms of these expressions the cross-spectral density
orthogonal electric field components. On the other hand, tensor in Eq. (84) can now be written as
for highly polarized beams only one series, namely, the J共 ␻ 兲
W共 ␳1 , ␳2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 关 S 共 ␳1 , ␻ 兲兴 1/2关 S 共 ␳2 , ␻ 兲兴 1/2
tr J共 ␻ 兲
⫻ ␮ 共 ␳1 ⫺ ␳2 , ␻ 兲 , (87)
which is the two-dimensional analog of Eq. (52) written
for fully polarized beams. We emphasize that ␮ in this
expression is the electromagnetic degree of coherence in-
troduced in Eq. (25).
We may proceed by noting from Eq. (84) that the tensor
W( ␳1 , ␳2 , ␻ ) is separable in the x and y coordinates, and
that the functional form in both directions is exactly the
exponential part of Eq. (48). Thus by making use of Eqs.
(53) and (58) we can straightforwardly express the cross-
spectral density tensor in the form
⬁ ⬁

Fig. 1. Behavior of the ratio of the eigenvalues ⌳ (n j) /⌳ 0(1) as a

W共 ␳1 , ␳2 , ␻ 兲 ⫽ 兺兺
m⫽0 n⫽0
⌳ mn 共 ␻ 兲 ␾mn
* 共 ␳1 , ␻ 兲 ␾mn 共 ␳2 , ␻ 兲 ,
function of n for three values of the global degree of coherence q. (88)
Solid curves, j ⫽ 1 [Eq. (81)]; dashed curves, j ⫽ 2 [Eq. (83)].
The degree of polarization is P( ␻ ) ⫽ 0.6. where
Tervo et al.
⌳ mn 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ tr J共 ␻ 兲 ␭ m 共 ␻ 兲 ␭ n 共 ␻ 兲 ,
␾mn 共 ␳, ␻ 兲 ⫽ ␾ m 共 x, ␻ 兲 ␾ n 共 y, ␻ 兲 ŝ 共 ␻ 兲 ,
with ␾ n (x, ␻ ) and ␭ n ( ␻ ) given by Eqs. (54) and (55), re-
spectively. Note that the vectors ␾mn ( ␳, ␻ ) are orthogo-
nal in the plane z ⫽ 0, i.e.,
兵 ␾mn 共 ␳1 , ␻ 兲 , ␾m ⬘ n ⬘ 共 ␳2 , ␻ 兲 其 z⫽0 ⫽ ␦ mm ⬘ ␦ nn ⬘ .
Using Eq. (88) as the kernel, one can readily verify that
the quantities ⌳ mn ( ␻ ) and the vectors ␾mn ( ␳, ␻ ) are the
eigenvalues and the (orthonormal) eigenvectors of the
Fredholm, integral equation (22). Thus Eq. (88) is the
coherent-mode representation of the fully polarized, two-
dimensional, electromagnetic GSM beam. We mention
just in passing that partially polarized GSM beams could
be dealt with analogously to the polarized case, except
that the tensor J(␻) then must be represented as the sum
of two tensors both corresponding to a fully polarized field
(see Subsection 8.B).
9. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper we have extended Wolf ’s scalar theory of
partial coherence in the space–frequency domain to hold
for fluctuating, vector-valued optical fields as well. The
central result in the theory is the electromagnetic
coherent-mode decomposition, which expresses an arbi-
trary, electric, cross-spectral density tensor as an incoher-
ent superposition of elementary modes whose cross-
spectral density tensors factor in the two spatial
variables. The electric fields associated with the differ-
ent modes, obtained from a vectorial, Fredholm, integral
equation, are orthogonal within the decomposition do-
main. Two physical results are of particular importance.
First, because of the factored tensor form, the elementary
modes are spatially fully coherent in view of the recently
introduced degree of (spectral) coherence of electromag-
netic fields. Second, the coherent-mode decomposition
demonstrates that a statistically stationary, electromag-
netic field can be rigorously represented, at any fre-
quency, in terms of an ensemble of monochromatic real-
izations.
The addition of two or more elementary coherent-mode
tensors with appropriate weight factors leads to a par-
tially coherent (and partially polarized) electromagnetic
field. Because of the orthonormality of the electric field
modes, the weight factors are the eigenvalues of the vec-
torial Fredholm integral equation with the cross-spectral-
density tensor as the kernel. As an example, we ana-
lyzed electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beams in
both one and two dimensions. The results, which are ob-
tained in closed form, illustrate the role of the eigenval-
ues in formation of the coherence and polarization prop-
erties of the beam.
Much as in scalar theory of coherence, the electromag-
netic, coherent-mode decomposition can be expected to be
useful in the mode-by-mode propagation of random elec-
tromagnetic fields and in inverse problems involving elec-
tromagnetic spectral coherence and polarization. Deal-
ing with the coherent modes individually, as opposed to
the whole tensor, reduces the dimensionality of the analy-
Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004 / J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 2213
(89) sis and in many cases affords great savings in terms of
computing time and memory requirements. In general
cases for which no analytical solutions may exist, the ei-
(90) genvalues and eigenvectors (coherent modes) can effi-
ciently be calculated numerically. In inverse problems
the advantages often originate from the unitarity of the
diffraction or scattering arrangement, implying that the
eigenvalues (modal weights) remain unchanged. In such
(91) situations the electromagnetic coherent-mode representa-
tion can substantially facilitate the recovery of the spatial
coherence and polarization information of the random
electric field.
APPENDIX A: PROOF OF EQ. (18)
In this appendix we show, starting from Eq. (7), that the
electric cross-spectral density tensor satisfies the non-
negative definiteness condition (18).
Let us first insert Eq. (13) into the nonnegative defi-
niteness condition (7) of the electric mutual-coherence
tensor. This yields
冕冕 冕冕 冕 ⫺⬁
⬁
f* 共 r1 , t 1 兲 • W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 • f共 r2 , t 2 兲
⫻ exp关 ⫺i ␻ 共 t 2 ⫺ t 1 兲兴 d␻ d3 r 1 dt 1 d3 r 2 dt 2 ⭓ 0. (A1)
We now choose f(r, t) ⫽ g(r)h(t), where g(r) and h(t)
may be any well-behaving functions of position and time,
respectively. This kind of choice can always be made,
since f(r, t) is arbitrary. If we denote
H共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 冕 ⫺⬁
⬁
h 共 t 兲 exp共 ⫺i ␻ t 兲 dt (A2)
and
E共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 冕冕 g* 共 r1 兲 • W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 • g共 r2 兲 d3 r 1 d3 r 2 ,
(A3)
relation (A1) reduces to the form
冕 ⫺⬁
⬁
兩 H 共 ␻ 兲 兩 2 E 共 ␻ 兲 d␻ ⭓ 0. (A4)
By using the Hermiticity condition (17) of the electric
cross-spectral density tensor, we at once see that E( ␻ )
must be real. In addition, since the elements of W are
continuous with respect to ␻, E( ␻ ) is also continuous.
We next make use of the result derived by Wolf in Ap-
pendix A of Ref. 3: that under the restriction that E( ␻ )
be a continuous real function, Eq. (A4) can hold only if
E( ␻ ) ⭓ 0; i.e.,
冕冕
g* 共 r1 兲 • W共 r1 , r2 , ␻ 兲 • g共 r2 兲 d3 r 1 d3 r 2 ⭓ 0,
(A5)
which is exactly the desired result.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A part of this work was done while J. Tervo and T. Setälä
were visiting at the Royal Institute of Technology in Ki-
sta, Sweden. J. Tervo and T. Setälä gratefully acknowl-
edge financial support from the Academy of Finland
2214 J. Opt. Soc. Am. A / Vol. 21, No. 11 / November 2004
(projects 203967 and 81031, respectively), and A. T.
Friberg from the Swedish Research Council.
J. Tervo’s e-mail address is jani.tervo@joensuu.fi. His
current address is LightTrans GmbH, Wildenbruch-
strasse 15, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
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