On rotationally symmetric partially coherent light and the moments of its Wigner distribution

Abstract

The Wigner distribution of rotationally symmetric partially coherent light is considered and the constraints for its moments are derived. While all odd-order moments vanish, these constraints lead to a drastic reduction in the number of parameters that we need to describe all even-order moments. A way to measure the moments as intensity moments in the output planes of (generally anamorphic but separable) first-order optical systems is presented.