Pieter Hendrik van Cittert Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
A theoretical optical physicist associated with the Van Cittert-Zernike theorem. Propagation from an extended incoherent source can produce spatial coherence, with the coherence pattern related to the source's angular brightness distribution. This connects a measurable interference contrast to source size and underlies astronomical interferometry.[ref]
Die wahrscheinliche Schwingungsverteilung in einer von einer Lichtquelle direkt oder mittels einer Linse beleuchteten Ebene by Pieter Hendrik van Cittert. Original 1934 paper on the statistical field distribution from direct or lens-mediated illumination