Correlation singularities of partially coherent beams with multi-Gaussian correlation function

Correlation singularities of partially coherent beams with multi-Gaussian correlation function (i.e., multi-Gaussian Schell-model beams) are studied. It is shown that there exist correlation singularities for scalar multi-Gaussian Schell-model (MGSM) beams, both in the source plane and in the output plane. We find the simple relation between the correlation singularities and the beam index M of MGSM beams, i.e., the number of ring dislocations equals M−1, which may be used to determine the beam index M.