Wigner picture of partially coherent accelerating beams

Abstract

We advance a phase-space theory of partially coherent accelerating, non-diffracting beams employing the Wigner distribution function (WDF). We derive a general expression for the WDF of any accelerating, diffraction-free beam of arbitrary degree of spatial coherence and find an elegant closed-form expression for the WDF of such beam with a Gaussian energy spectrum of noise. We also show how partially coherent accelerating beams of finite power can be constructed within the Wigner picture.