Spatial coherence properties of digitally generated partially coherent vortex beams

We study the spatial coherence properties of partially coherent vortex beams. The mathematical model employed for the generation and control of the spatially partially coherent beam is based on a statistical model, in which the field is constructed from the incoherent superposition of an ensemble of individual vortices carrying topological charges of different values and handedness. Results show that if the ensemble from which the partially coherent vortex is generated consists of a mixed composition of individual vortices it is not always possible to determine its topological charge unambiguously.