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Coherence, a fixed relationship between the phase of waves in a beam of radiation of a single frequency. Two beams of light are coherent when the phase difference between their waves is constant; they are noncoherent if there is a random or changing phase relationship. Stable interference patterns are formed only by radiation emitted by coherent sources, ordinarily produced by splitting a single beam into two or more beams. A laser, unlike an incandescent source, produces a beam in which all the components bear a fixed relationship to each other.

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electromagnetic radiation: Propagation and coherence
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