Abstract

The interaction between real and virtual point emitters is presented as the propagation principle of light under arbitrary spatial coherence. It is supported on a geometrical interpretation of the two-point correlation and the introduction of the geometrical potential. This principle and the spectrum of classes of point emitters constitute a complete theoretical model that offers a unified phenomenological framework for interference and diffraction not only of light but also of single particles, which is not possible in the conventional formalism based on the wave superposition principle.

© 2017 Optical Society of America

Discreteness of the real point emitters as a physical condition for diffraction

Román Castañeda
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 34(2) 184-192 (2017)

Modal description of paraxial structured light propagation: tutorial

Hend Sroor, Chane Moodley, Valeria Rodríguez-Fajardo, Qiwen Zhan, and Andrew Forbes
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 38(10) 1443-1449 (2021)

Spectrum of classes of point emitters: new tool for nonparaxial optical field modeling

Román Castañeda and Hernán Muñoz
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 33(8) 1421-1429 (2016)

Spectrum of classes of point emitters of electromagnetic wave fields

Román Castañeda
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 33(9) 1769-1776 (2016)

Analogies between classical scalar wave fields in any state of spatial coherence and some quantum states of light

Román Castañeda, Gustavo Cañas, and Herbert Vinck-Posada
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 29(4) 463-472 (2012)