PH3134 — OPTICS

Instructor Name: GV Pavan kumar Module: Correlation functions and Coherence

Problem 1 :
Consider two partially coherent waves U1 and U2 with intensities defined as I1 = ⟨|U1 |2 ⟩,
I2 = ⟨|U2 |2 ⟩.The Intensity I due to superposition of two waves at some point P :
√ ⟨U ∗ U ⟩
I = I1 + I2 + 2 I1 I2 |g12 | cos ϕ. Here, g12 = √1I1 I22 , ϕ= arg[g12 ].
max −Imin
Given Visibility ν = IImax +Imin √
(a) Show that Visibility ν also equals ν = 2I1 +I
I1 I2
2
|g12 |.
(b) Also explain what are the limiting values of |g12 |. Also comment on relationship
between waves in limiting cases.

Problem 2 :
First order correlation function g 1 (τ ) quantifies temporal coherence of light,
∗
g 1 (τ ) = ⟨U⟨U(t)U (t+τ )⟩
∗ (t)U (t)⟩ , where ⟨...⟩ indicates average over long time interval T .

⟨U ∗ (t)U (t + τ )⟩ = T1 T U ∗ (t)U (t + τ )dt.

R

Now, suppose given U (t) = Uo e−iωt eiϕ(t)

(a) Show g 1 (τ ) = (1 − ττo ) exp(iωt), where τo is the coherence time interval.
(b) Show that for equal beams, the fringe visibility ν is equal to magnitude of correlation
function |g1 (τ )| for the following cases:
(i) complete incoherence
(ii) complete coherence
(iii) partial coherence
(c) Also, show g 1 (τ ) = (g 1 (−τ ))∗ , for a generic U (t)

Problem 3 :
Consider the beam of light produced by excitation of two stable waves where the electric
field is E(z, t) = E1 ei(k1 z−ω1 t) + E2 ei(k2 z−ω2 t) . Prove that beam of light is first order
coherent at all pairs of points.

Problem 4 :
Consider a beam of light produced by excitation of two modes as E(z, t) = E1 ei(k1 z−ω1 t) +
E2 ei(k2 z−ω2 t) , but where both modes exhibit random phase and amplitude fluctuations. If
the average intensity is equally divided between the modes, prove that:
|g 1 (τ )| = cos 21 (ω1 − ω2 )τ .

Problem 5 :
Prove that the spectral density S(ν) is the Fourier transform of the autocorrelation func-
tion G(τ ) (Wiener-Khinchin theorem).

1
Problem 6 :
Show that light of narrow spectral width has a coherence length lc ∼ λ2 /∆λ, where ∆λ
is the line width in wavelength units. Further, show that the frequency spread of the
spectral line is inversely related to the coherence time. The sodium line at λ = 589nm
has a spread in wavelength ∆λ = 0.00194nm. Calculate the coherence length and line
width (in Hertz).

Problem 7 :
If the light of 660 nm wavelength has a wavetrain 20λ long, what is its coherence length
and coherence time?

Problem 8 :
If the visibility in an interference fringe pattern is 50 percent and the maxima receives
15 units of light, how much light does the minima receive?