Beam criteria for propagation of electromagnetic beams in the turbulent atmosphere

A recently introduced criterion [O. Korotkova, E. Wolf, Opt. Lett. 32 (2007) 2137] for testing whether a scalar beam preserves its beam-like shape after it propagates some distance through the turbulent atmosphere is generalized to the case of electromagnetic beam propagation. The generalized criterion applies to monochromatic as well as to stochastic electromagnetic beams. The analysis is illustrated by examples.