Effects of statistical similarity in Young's interference experiment

• Statistical similarity at pinholes ensures complete coherence in observation plane.
• Polarization and cross-polarization in initial and observation plane are the same.
• A condition that ensures complete space-time coherence is derived.

Some new results are established on the condition that the fluctuating field at the pinholes in Young's interference experiment is statistically similar at a frequency ω0ω0. It is shown that this condition ensures complete spectral coherence of the light in the plane of observation. Under this circumstance, the spectral degree of polarization and cross-polarization of the stochastic electromagnetic beam in the plane of observation are exactly the same as that in the pinholes. Furthermore, we derive a condition that ensures complete spatial coherence at the pinholes in the space–time domain.