DENSITY OF TURBULENCE-INDUCED PHASE DISLOCATIONS

Under certain conditions, light-wave propagation through turbulent med ia causes a specific type of phase distortion: so-called phase disloca tions. A salient feature of phase dislocations is an appearance of zon es where the phase turns out to be a multivalued function of coordinat es. The problem of turbulence-induced phase dislocations is considered . Both a theoretical treatment and simulations based on the numerical solution of a parabolic equation are used for estimation of the disloc ation density. Various turbulence conditions, ranging from weak to ver y strong ones, are considered as well as the dependences on wavelength , and the inner scales of turbulence are presented. An empirical formu la for the dislocation density suitable for a wide range of turbulent and propagation conditions is derived. The results obtained can be use ful for both atmospheric and adaptive optics. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.