Analytical model for structured light propagation through a turbulent atmosphere

Abstract:We develop a straightforward analytical framework for the propagation of spatial light modes through a turbulent atmosphere. Built upon the split-step approach with the mode-based optical field representation, it directly assesses how turbulence-induced phase fluctuations deplete the optical power in the original mode and re-distribute it into neighboring spatial modes. Importantly, this power transfer scales linearly with the propagation distance in a uniform channel, yielding a simple solution for arbitrary distances in the form of a matrix exponential. The transfer rate is determined by the spatial spectral overlap between the turbulence spectrum and the acceptance spectrum for a pair of interacting spatial modes. The model predicts the average power in each spatial mode and is exact when a single mode strongly dominates all others. Our predictions show reasonably good agreement with simulations up to medium-to-strong turbulence levels. The model also confirms the scalings with mode order previously known as empirical observations.

Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Optics (physics.optics)

arXiv:2605.30304 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2605.30304v2 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.30304 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

K. Kravtsov "Analytical model for structured light propagation through a turbulent atmosphere", Phys. Rev. A 114, 023717 (2026)

https://doi.org/10.1103/9cjw-w7rk Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

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