The quantum treatment of optical coherence theory is generally carried out in the space-time domain. We present a quantum mechanical theory of first-order coherence for statistically non-stationary light in the space-frequency domain.
A theory is developed, valid within the accuracy of the first-order Born approximation, of the scattering of electromagnetic fields that applies under much more general conditions than do the current theories. The incident field is assumed to be statistically homogeneous and stationary, of arbitrary state of coherence, of arbitrary state of polarization, and to have arbitrary spectrum. The medium is assumed to be linear and spatially and temporally random, with the randomness being characterized by an ensemble that is statistically homogeneous, isotropic, and stationary. The analysis is not restricted to scattering from a medium in thermal equilibrium and applies in both off-resonance and near-resonance regions of the medium.
Light is known to exhibit quantum uncertainty in terms of its amplitude, phase, and polarization. However, quantum uncertainty related to coherence, which is also a fundamental physical property of light, remains to be considered. Here, we formulate and explore the concept of quantum optical coherence uncertainty. We focus on the first-order coherence of the simplest possible light field, a purely monochromatic plane wave, which is classically completely stable. Starting from a scalar treatment, we show that the field displays zero coherence uncertainty only for a number state. We then proceed to the vectorial regime and establish that any state leads to coherence fluctuations, governed by a set of uncertainty relations depending on the polarization state and space-time points. Our work thus provides fundamental insights into the quantum character of optical coherence, with potential benefits in applications using highly sensitive interferometric and polarimetric techniques.