Comparison of the statistical properties of laser speckles and complex spatial patterns of a photorefractive oscillator
Abstract
Many complex spatio-temporal phenomena exist in nature. Some may be attributed to deterministic origin (e.g. turbulence) while others are of stochastic origin (e.g. noise). It is necessary to find suitable properties that can be unambiguously identified with each.
In this research, the spatial statistical properties of laser speckles and patterns of a photorefractive oscillator (PRO) are studied and compared to determine if the spatial properties will enable us to distinguish between the two types of complex behavior.
Standard statistical measures such as intensity histogram, spatial power spectrum, spatial autocorrelation and correlation length are used. The statistics of the optical vortices observed in both systems are also studied as an alternative approach.