Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Quasi-light Storage for Optical Data Packets
Published on: February 6, 2014
Theory of spatially and spectrally partially coherent pulses
Hanna Lajunen1, Pasi Vahimaa, Jani Tervo
1Department of Physics, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland. hanna.lajunen@joensuu.fi
Abstract:
A coherent-mode representation for spatially and spectrally partially coherent pulses is derived both in the space-frequency domain and in the space-time domain. It is shown that both the cross-spectral density and the mutual coherence function of partially coherent pulses can be expressed as a sum of spatially and spectrally and temporally completely coherent modes. The concept of the effective degree of coherence for nonstationary fields is introduced. As an application of the theory, the propagation of Gaussian Schell-model pulsed beams in the space-frequency domain is considered and their coherent-mode representation is presented.
Related Concept Videos
NMR Spectrometers: Radiofrequency Pulses and Pulse Sequences
Interference and Diffraction
Interference and Superposition of Waves
Interference occurs in mechanical waves, such as sound waves, waves on a string, and surface water waves. Mechanical waves correspond to the physical displacement of particles. Hence,...
Propagation Speed of Electromagnetic Waves
Propagation of Waves
Consider a scenario where a wave propagates from a string of low linear mass density to a string of high linear mass density. In such a case, the reflected wave is out of phase with respect to the incident wave, however the...
Impulse-Momentum Theorem
By writing Newton's second law of motion in terms of the momentum of an object and the external force acting on it, and simultaneously using the definition of the impulse vector, it can be shown that the total impulse on an object is equal to its net...

