RSS feeds
РусскийEnglish
Issue 1, 2026
Volume year page
Issues Authors PACS Subscription For authors

Issues

 / 

2025

 / 

November

←  →

60th anniversary of the L.D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics RAS. Reviews of topical problems


High intensity statistics of light propagating in turbulent fluid

†  a, b, ‡  a, b
a Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, prosp. Akademika Semenova 1A, Chernogolovka, Moscow Region, 142432, Russian Federation
b HSE University, ul. Myasnitskaya 20, Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation

We present an investigation of the statistical properties of light propagation in a turbulent fluid. Our focus is on the probability density function of the intensity I for different values of I and the beam's path length. The probability density function P(I) exhibits two tails, characterized by stretched exponents, indicating that the likelihood of rare events with intensities much higher than the typical value is significantly higher than naive Gaussian estimates would suggest. We present an analysis of the spatial structure of high-intensity bursts of light.

Fulltext pdf (629 KB)
Fulltext is also available at DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.2025.05.039934
Keywords: electromagnetic wave propagation, turbulent media, rare events, bright speckles
PACS: 41.20.Jb, 42.25.Dd, 92.60.Ta (all)
DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.2025.05.039934
URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2025/11/e/
Citation: Kolokolov I V, Lebedev V V "High intensity statistics of light propagating in turbulent fluid" Phys. Usp. 68 1112–1130 (2025)
BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks

Received: 24th, March 2025, revised: 17th, May 2025, 27th, May 2025

Оригинал: Колоколов И В, Лебедев В В «Статистика высоких интенсивностей света, распространяющегося в турбулентной среде» УФН 195 1179–1198 (2025); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.2025.05.039934

References (69) ↓ Similar articles (2)

  1. Kolmogorov A N Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 30 299 (1941); Translated into English, Kolmogorov A N Proc. R. Soc. London A 434 9 (1991)
  2. Kolmogorov A N Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 32 19 (1941); Translated into English, Kolmogorov A N Selected Works Of A.N. Kolmogorov Vol. 1 (Dordrecht: Kluwer Acad. Publ., 1991) p. 324
  3. Obukhov A M Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 32 22 (1941)
  4. Obukhov A M Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Geogr. Geofiz. 13 (1) 58 (1949)
  5. Corrsin S J. Appl. Phys. 22 469 (1951)
  6. Obukhov A M Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Ser. Geofiz. (2) 155 (1953)
  7. Obukhov A M Turbulentnost’ I Dinamika Atmosfery (Turbulence And Atmospheric Dynamics) (Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat, 1988)
  8. Tatarskii V I Rasprostranenie Voln V Turbulentnoi Atmosfere (Wave Propagation In A Turbulent Atmosphere) (Moscow: Nauka, 1967)
  9. Goodman J W "Statistical properties of laser speckle pattern" Laser Speckle And Related Phenomena (Topics in Applied Physics) Vol. 9 (Ed. J C Dainty) (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1975) p. 9-75
  10. Kravtsov Yu A, Rytov S M, Tatarskii V I Sov. Phys. Usp. 18 118 (1975); Kravtsov Yu A, Rytov S M, Tatarskii V I Usp. Fiz. Nauk 115 239 (1975)
  11. Rytov S M, Kravtsov Yu A, Tatarskii V I Vvedenie V Statisticheskuyu Radiofiziku Ch. 2 Sluchainye Polya (Moscow: Nauka, 1978); Translated into English, Rytov S M, Kravtsov Yu A, Tatarskii V I Principles Of Statistical Radiophysics Vol. 3 Elements Of Random Fields (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1989)
  12. Rytov S M, Kravtsov Yu A, Tatarskii V I Principles Of Statistical Radiophysics 4: Wave Propagation Through Random Media (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1989)
  13. Strohbehn J W (Ed.) Rasprostranenie Lazernogo Puchka V Atmosfere (Moscow: Mir, 1981); Translated from English, Strohbehn J W (Ed.) Laser Beam Propagation In The Atmosphere (Topics in Applied Physics) Vol. 25 (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1978)
  14. Andrews L C, Phillips R L Laser Beam Propagation Through Random Media (Press Monograph Series) Vol. PM53 (Bellingham, WA: SPIE Optical Engineering Press, 1998)
  15. Vorontsov M et al "Characterization of atmospheric turbulence effects over 149 km propagation path using multi-wavelength laser beacons" Proc. of the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conf., AMOS, Maui, Hawaii, September 14-17, 2010 (Ed. S Ryan) (Maui, HI: The Maui Economic Development Board, 2010), id. E18
  16. Vorontsov M et al "Comparison of turbulence-induced scintillations for multi-wavelength laser beacons over tactical (7 km) and long (149 km) atmospheric propagation paths" Proc. of the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conf., AMOS, Maui, Hawaii, September 13-16, 2011 (Maui, HI: The Maui Economic Development Board, 2011), id. E37
  17. Lachinova S L, Vorontsov M A J. Opt. 18 025608 (2016)
  18. Lushnikov P M, Vladimirova N JETP Lett. 108 571 (2018); Lushnikov P M, Vladimirova N Pis’ma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 108 611 (2018)
  19. Aksenov V P et al Opt. Express 27 024705 (2019)
  20. Kolokolov I V, Lebedev V V JETP Lett. 118 238 (2023); Kolokolov I V, Lebedev V V Pis’ma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 118 234 (2023)
  21. Kolokolov I V, Lebedev V V JETP Lett. 120 816 (2024); Kolokolov I V, Lebedev V V Pis’ma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 120 850 (2024)
  22. Kolokolov I V, Lebedev V V Phys. Rev. E 111 064104 (2025)
  23. Lifshitz I M Sov. Phys. Usp. 7 549 (1965); Lifshitz I M Usp. Fiz. Nauk 83 617 (1964)
  24. Zittartz J, Langer J S Phys. Rev. 148 741 (1966)
  25. Falkovich G et al Phys. Rev. E 54 4896 (1996)
  26. Balkovsky E et al Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 1452 (1997)
  27. Gracheva M E, Gurvich A S Radiophys. Quantum Electron. 8 511 (1965); Gracheva M E, Gurvich A S Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved. Radiofiz. 8 717 (1965)
  28. Gracheva M E, Gurvich A S, Kallistratova M A Radiophys. Quantum Electron. 13 40 (1970); Gracheva M E, Gurvich A S, Kallistratova M A Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved. Radiofiz. 13 56 (1970)
  29. Klyatskin V I Phys. Usp. 47 169 (2004); Klyatskin V I Usp. Fiz. Nauk 174 177 (2004)
  30. Zel’dovich Ya B, Mamaev A V, Shandarin S F Sov. Phys. Usp. 26 77 (1983); Zel’dovich Ya B, Mamaev A V, Shandarin S F Usp. Fiz. Nauk 139 153 (1983)
  31. Gurbatov S N, Saichev A I, Shandarin S F Phys. Usp. 55 223 (2012); Gurbatov S N, Saichev A I, Shandarin S F Usp. Fiz. Nauk 182 233 (2012)
  32. Babiano A et al J. Fluid Mech. 183 379 (1987)
  33. Monin A S, Yaglom A M Statisticheskaya Gidromekhanika. Mekhanika Turbulentnosti Vol. 1 (Moscow: Nauka, 1965); Translated into English, Monin A S, Yaglom A M Statistical Fluid Mechanics. Mechanics Of Turbulence Vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1971)
  34. Fried D L Radio Sci. 10 71 (1975)
  35. Bec J, Khanin K "Burgers turbulence" Phys. Rep. 447 1 (2007)
  36. Feller W Vvedenie V Teoriyu Veroyatnostei I Ee Prilozheniya Vol. 1, 2 (Moscow: Mir, 1967); Translated from English, Feller W An Introduction To Probability Theory And Its Applications Vol. 1, 2 (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1957, 1966)
  37. Prokhorov A M et al Sov. Phys. Usp. 17 826 (1975); Prokhorov A M et al Usp. Fiz. Nauk 114 415 (1974)
  38. Charnotskii M I Waves Random Media 4 243 (1994)
  39. Zavorotnyi V U, Klyatskin V I, Tatarskii V I Sov. Phys. JETP 46 252 (1977); Zavorotnyi V U, Klyatskin V I, Tatarskii V I Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 73 481 (1977)
  40. Kolokolov I, Lebedev V, Lushnikov P M Phys. Rev. E 101 042137 (2020)
  41. Patashinskii A Z, Pokrovskii V L Fluktuatsionnaya Teoriya Fazovykh Perekhodov 2nd ed., rev. (Moscow: Nauka, 1982); Translated into English from the 1st Russian ed., Patashinskii A Z, Pokrovskii V L Fluctuation Theory Of Phase Transitions (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1979)
  42. Shishov V I Radiophys. Quantum Electron. 11 500 (1968); Shishov V I Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved. Radiofiz. 11 866 (1968)
  43. Tatarskii V I Sov. Phys. JETP 29 1133 (1969); Tatarskii V I Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 56 2107 (1969)
  44. Chernov L A Sov. Phys. Acoust. 15 480 (1970); Chernov L A Astron. Zh. 15 554 (1969)
  45. Klyatskin V I Sov. Phys. JETP 30 520 (1970); Klyatskin V I Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 57 952 (1969)
  46. Beran M J, Ho T L J. Opt. Soc. Am. 59 1134 (1969)
  47. Molyneux J E J. Opt. Soc. Am. 61 248 (1971)
  48. Kraichnan R H Phys. Fluids 11 945 (1968)
  49. Kazantsev A P Sov. Phys. JETP 26 1031 (1968); Kazantsev A P Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 53 1806 (1967)
  50. Klyatskin V I Phys. Usp. 59 67 (2016); Klyatskin V I Usp. Fiz. Nauk 186 75 (2016)
  51. Gurvich A S, Kallistratova M A, Martvel’ F É Radiophys. Quantum Electron. 20 705 (1977); Gurvich A S, Kallistratova M A, Martvel’ F É Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved. Radiofiz. 20 1020 (1977)
  52. Flatté S M, Jan M, Wang G-Y J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 10 2363 (1993)
  53. Flatté S M, Bracher C, Wang G-Y J J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 11 2080 (1994)
  54. Wick G C Phys. Rev. 80 268 (1950)
  55. Bender C M, Orzag S A Advanced Mathematical Methods For Scientists And Engineers (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978)
  56. Popov V N Kontinual’nye Integraly V Kvantovoi Teorii Polya I Statisticheskoi Fizike (Path Integrals In Quantum Field Theory And Statistical Physics) (Moscow: Atomizdat, 1976)
  57. Feynman R P, Hibbs A R Kvantovaya Mekhanika I Integraly Po Traektoriyam (Moscow: Mir, 1968); Translated from English, Feynman R P, Hibbs A R Quantum Mechanics And Path Integrals (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965)
  58. Weinberg S The Quantum Theory Of Fields Vol. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000)
  59. Kamenev A Field Theory Of Non-Equilibrium Systems (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2023)
  60. Chertkov M et al Phys. Rev. E 52 4924 (1995)
  61. Chertkov M et al Phys. Rev. E 51 5609 (1995)
  62. Chernyak V et al J. Lightwave Technol. 22 1155 (2004)
  63. Virovlyansky A L, Makarov D V, Pranz S V Phys. Usp. 55 18 (2012); Virovlyansky A L, Makarov D V, Pranz S V Usp. Fiz. Nauk 182 19 (2012)
  64. Wolfson M A, Tomsovic S J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109 2693 (2001)
  65. Feigel’man M V Sov. Phys. JETP 52 555 (1980); Feigel’man M V Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 79 1095 (1980)
  66. Weinan E et al Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 1904 (1997)
  67. Gotoh T Phys. Fluids 6 3985 (1994)
  68. Dagkesamanskaya I M, Shishov V I Radiophys. Quantum Electron. 13 9 (1970); Dagkesamanskaya I M, Shishov V I Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved. Radiofiz. 13 (1) 16 (1970)
  69. Gurvich A S et al Radiophys. Quantum Electron. 22 135 (1979); Gurvich A S et al Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved. Radiofiz. 22 198 (1979)
© 1918–2026 Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk
Email: ufn@ufn.ru Editorial office contacts About the journal Terms and conditions