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At each point the Gaussian process has a standard normal marginal distribution. Its characteristic function gives the coherent screen fieldIt is constant in $z$, so its Fourier transform is $m\delta (\nu )$. Applying the Fresnel propagator to this zero-transverse-wavenumber component gives the ensemble-averaged reduced spectrumThus the reduced mean is independent of $x$. The physical mean $⟨\psi (x,z)⟩=e^{ikx}{e}^{-{\beta }^2/2}$ still has its carrier phase. The coherent attenuation by a Gaussian phase screen takes place at the screen, with no further coherent attenuation in homogeneous space.

The full spectral acoustic flux depends on the second moment, not the square of this mean. For a stationary process, the generalized cross-spectral correlation isIndeed its propagation factors cancel on $\nu ={\nu }^{\prime }$. This explains why the ensemble-averaged spectral acoustic flux in (b) is also independent of $x$, even for nonzero transverse wavenumbers whose individual complex amplitudes change phase. The coherent atom has weight $|m{|}^2=e^{-{\beta }^2}$; the full stationary phase-screen power spectrum also contains fluctuations. Under the decay assumptions in (b), their integrated weight is $1-e^{-{\beta }^2}$. One must use these weights in a spectral measure of a stationary random field, rather than square a Dirac delta distribution. A phase-only screen preserves the leading-order total acoustic energy flux, although it reduces its coherent part.