Theoretical model for optical-wave phase fluctuations

A model is developed for the probability density function of the phase of an optical wave propagating through atmospheric turbulence. The field of the optical wave is modeled as the coherent sum of a constant-amplitude component and a random component whose amplitude is governed by the K distribution. Under the same conditions, it was previously shown that the intensity of the field is approximately governed by the I–K distribution. Two functional forms of the phase distribution are derived, and special cases of each are discussed.