Mitsuo TAKEDA^1,3*, Wei WANG², Dinesh N. NAIK³, and Rakesh K. SINGH⁴

¹Center for Optical Research and Education (CORE), Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya 321-8585, Japan
²Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, U.K.
³Institute für Technische Optik, Universität Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
⁴Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695547, India

(Received July 1, 2014; Accepted August 8, 2014)

Classical statistical optics is revisited with the aim of introducing the concept of spatial statistical optics that places particular focus and special emphasis on spatial statistics of the optical field, rather than on their temporal statistics. The principles of emerging technology of statistical correlation holography based on spatial statistical optics are reviewed, and their unique capabilities for coherence and polarization shaping as well as synthesizing stochastic optical fields with desired statistical properties are introduced.

Key words: statistical optics, coherence, holography, polarization, interferometry, correlation

^*E-mail address: takeda@opt.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp