The expression for the Wigner distribution (WD) in polar coordinates was de
rived, based on the decomposition of coherent and partially coherent fields
on the orthogonal sets of Hermite-Gauss modes. This representation allows
one to analyze easily the structure of the WD and to describe the field pro
pagation through first-order optical systems, including the self-imaging ph
enomenon. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America [S0740-3232(00)00704-3] OCIS
codes: 110.1650, 110.6980, 070.1170.