Spatial coherence of undulator radiation beyond the van Cittert–Zernike theorem

Abstract A novel approximation for calculating the first-order spatial coherence of undulator radiation is presented. Since the far-field approximation is not used in the calculation, it is applicable even in the near-field region. Compared with numerical results based on the first principles, the approximation is proved to be quite reasonable. The spatial coherence measured at the Photon Factory, KEK is analyzed using the formula and the results are found to be consistent with the design value within experimental errors.