Complex Gaussianity of Long-Distance Random Wave Processes

Abstract

Interference of randomly scattered classical waves naturally leads to familiar speckle patterns, where the wave intensity follows an exponential distribution while the wave field itself is described by a circularly symmetric complex normal distribution. Using the Itô–Schrödinger paraxial model of wave beam propagation, we demonstrate how a deterministic incident beam transitions to such a fully developed speckle pattern over long distances in the so-called scintillation (weak-coupling) regime.