Interferometric visibility

The interferometric visibility (also known as interference visibility and fringe visibility, or just visibility when in context) is a measure of the contrast of interference in any system subject to wave superposition. Examples include as optics, quantum mechanics, water waves, sound waves, or electrical signals. Visibility is defined as the ratio of the amplitude of the interference pattern to the sum of the powers of the individual waves. The interferometric visibility gives a practical way to measure the coherence of two waves (or one wave with itself). A theoretical definition of the coherence is given by the degree of coherence, using the notion of correlation.

Generally, two or more waves are superimposed and as the phase difference between them varies, the power or intensity (probability or population in quantum mechanics) of the resulting wave oscillates, forming an interference pattern. The pointwise definition may be expanded to a visibility function varying over time or space. For example, the phase difference varies as a function of space in a two-slit experiment. Alternately, the phase difference may be manually controlled by the operator, for example by adjusting a vernier knob in an interferometer.