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arXiv:2110.07315

Observations of the Nonclassical Feature of Photon Bunching on a Beam Splitter using Coherent Photons along the Same Input Port

Sang-Bae Kim, Byoung Seung HAM

Published Nov 1, 2021• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract One of the most striking quantum phenomena is photon bunching resulting from coincidently impinging two-indistinguishable photons on a beam splitter (BS) from two different input ports. Such a nonclassical feature has also been observed even between two independent light sources through either coherence optics resulting in phase locking or post-selected measurements such as quantum beating-based gating. Recently, BS physics regarding quantum features has been discussed using pure coherence optics based on phase basis superposition of the BS. Here, we experimentally demonstrate coherent photon bunching on a BS, where coherent photons come from the same input port. Although the mean values of both output photons are uniform and equal to each other, the mean value of the coincidence measurements between two output photons results in the nonclassical feature of photon bunching at a 50% rate. For this unprecedented result, we discuss the origin of indistinguishability for this quantum feature using the wave nature of a photon to understand the role of a BS in quantum mechanics.

DOI
10.21203/rs.3.rs-1002622/v1

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Abstract One of the most striking quantum phenomena is photon bunching resulting from coincidently impinging two-indistinguishable photons on a beam splitter (BS) from two different input ports. Such a nonclassical feature has also been observed even between two independent light sources through either coherence optics resulting in phase locking or post-selected measurements such as quantum beating-based gating. Recently, BS physics regarding quantum features has been discussed using pure coherence optics based on phase basis superposition of the BS. Here, we experimentally demonstrate coherent photon bunching on a BS, where coherent photons come from the same input port. Although the mean values of both output photons are uniform and equal to each other, the mean value of the coincidence measurements between two output photons results in the nonclassical feature of photon bunching at a 50% rate. For this unprecedented result, we discuss the origin of indistinguishability for this quantum feature using the wave nature of a photon to understand the role of a BS in quantum mechanics.
One of the most fundamental quantum features is the two-photon intensity correlation on a beam splitter, resulting in photon bunching into either output port. According to the conventional understanding of quantum mechanics, the origin of photon bunching on a beam splitter is in the indistinguishable characteristics between coincident photons, resulting in destructive quantum interference even without a clear definition of phase information of the paired photons. Here, a completely different approach is presented for the same quantum feature, where a strong mutual phase dependency is the essential requirement for the nonclassical feature of photon bunching. This definite phase relationship is now understood as the origin of this quantum feature resulting from the phase-basis superposition of the photon-BS system, resulting in photon indistinguishability. On behalf of a coherent model with a single input-port BS system, an extended scheme of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer is additionally analyzed for the validity of forbidden phase-basis superposition in the quantum feature.
Abstract Born’s rule is key to understanding quantum mechanics based on the probability amplitude for the measurement process of a physical quantity. Based on a typical particle nature of a photon, the quantum feature of photon bunching on a beam splitter between two output photons can be explained by Born’s rule even without clear definition of the relative phase between two input photons. Unlike conventional understanding on this matter, known as the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect, here, we present a new interpretation based on the wave nature of a photon, where the quantum feature of photon bunching is explained through phase basis superposition of the beam splitter. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is additionally presented to support the correctness of the presented method. As a result, our limited understanding of the quantum feature is deepened via phase basis superposition regarding the destructive quantum interference. Thus, the so-called ‘mysterious’ quantum feature is now clarified by both the definite phase relationship between paired photons and a new term of the phase basis superposition of an optical system.
The Copenhagen interpretation, in which the core concepts are Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and nonlocal EPR correlation, has been long discussed. Second-order anticorrelation in a beam splitter represents the origin of these phenomena and cannot be achieved classically. Here, the anticorrelation of nonclassicality in a beam splitter is interpreted using the concept of coherence. Unlike the common understanding of photons having a particle nature, anticorrelation is rooted in the wave nature of coherence optics, described by coherence optics, wherein quantum superposition between two input fields plays a key role. This interpretation may pose fundamental questions about the nature of nonclassicality and pave a road to coherence-based quantum information.
Two-photon interference effects arise because photons are indistinguishable particles. In the wellknown Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect, the transmission of two photons at a beam splitter interferes destructively with the reflection of both photons, requiring both photons to "bunch up" by leaving the beam splitter on the same side. Here, we show that the interference between locally propagating photons and photons exchanged by a mode swap can be implemented by post-selecting spatially separated photon outputs of a four-path interferometer. Even though the photons detected at spatially separated locations must have travelled along paths that never met up at the same beam splitter, the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect can be observed in correlations between the output ports that originate from the association of detection events with non-local output modes defined by the two single photon inputs. Local phase shifts can be used to map out non-classical correlations between the photons detected at different output locations, clarifying the role of linear optics in generating entanglement between spatially separated photons. Our work thus establishes a fundamental relation between multiphoton interference and entanglement, opening the door to new possibilities in optical quantum technologies.
Over the last several decades, entangled photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion processes in both second-order and third-order nonlinear optical materials have been intensively studied for various quantum features such as Bell inequality violation and anticorrelation. In an interferometric scheme, anticorrelation results from photon bunching based on randomness when entangled photon pairs coincidently impinge on a beam splitter. Compared with post-measurement-based probabilistic confirmation, a coherence version has been recently proposed using the wave nature of photons. Here, the origin of quantum features in a coupled interferometric scheme is investigated using pure coherence optics. In addition, a deterministic method of entangled photon-pair generation is proposed for on-demand coherence control of quantum processing.
The wave-particle duality of a photon is the bedrock of quantum optics, where both natures are mutually exclusive. Contrary to the conventional understanding of quantum features such as photon bunching on a beam splitter and Bell inequality violation based on the particle nature of photons, a new interpretation is presented for the fundamental understanding of the same quantum features using the wave nature of photons. For this, phase quantization of an optical system interacting with photons is investigated and applied it to a particular quantum phenomenon to fully understand the fundamental concept of indistinguishability between two photons in the quantum feature. This talk opens the door to randomness-based quantum determinacy.