We introduce an extension of the van Cittert-Zernike theorem to spatially i
ncoherent sources with partial polarization. We show through a simple examp
le that fields generated by such sources can possess correlation matrices w
ith interesting properties. In particular, we show that by suitable modulat
ion of the polarization state across the incoherent source, the correlation
between the orthogonal components of the field as well as the degree of po
larization may drastically change on propagation. (C) 2000 Optical Society
of America OCIS codes: 030.0030, 060.2380, 230.6080, 260.5430.