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arXiv:2505.12675

Quantum Statistics of Two Identical Particles and Modified Hong-Ou-Mandel Interferometer

Won-Young Hwang, Kicheon Kang

Published May 19, 2025• 0 citations
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Abstract

We propose an experimental scheme to probe the quantum statistics of two identical particles. The transition between the quantum and classical statistics of two identical particles is described by the particles having identical multiple internal energy levels. We show that effective distinguishability emerges as the thermal energy increases with respect to the energy level spacing, and the mesoscopic regime bridges quantum indistinguishability and classical distinguishability. A realistic experimental approach is proposed using a two-particle interferometer, where the particles reach statistical equilibrium before the two-particle distribution is measured. The unitarity of the scattering/separation process ensures the preservation of the equilibrium distribution and allows a direct measurement of the two-particle statistical distribution. Our results show the transition between quantum and classical behavior of the two-particle distribution, which can be directly probed by a realistic experiment.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2505.12675

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We propose an experimental scheme to probe the quantum statistics of two identical particles. The transition between the quantum and classical statistics of two identical particles is described by the particles having identical multiple internal energy levels. We show that effective distinguishability emerges as the thermal energy increases with respect to the energy level spacing, and the mesoscopic regime bridges quantum indistinguishability and classical distinguishability. A realistic experimental approach is proposed using a two-particle interferometer, where the particles reach statistical equilibrium before the two-particle distribution is measured. The unitarity of the scattering/separation process ensures the preservation of the equilibrium distribution and allows a direct measurement of the two-particle statistical distribution. Our results show the transition between quantum and classical behavior of the two-particle distribution, which can be directly probed by a realistic experiment.
We propose an experimental scheme to probe the quantum statistics of two identical particles. The transition from quantum to classical statistics of two identical particles can be described by introducing multiple identical internal energy levels for each particle. We show that as the thermal energy exceeds the level spacing, the particles acquire effective distinguishability. This gives rise to a mesoscopic regime that smoothly connects quantum indistinguishability and classical distinguishability. A realistic experimental approach is proposed using a two-particle interferometer, where the particles reach statistical equilibrium before the two-particle distribution is measured. The unitarity of the scattering and separation processes guarantees preservation of the equilibrium distribution, enabling a direct measurement of the two-particle statistical distribution. Our results show the transition between quantum and classical behavior of the two-particle distribution, which can be directly probed by a realistic experiment.
Abstract We propose an experimental scheme to probe the quantum statistics of two identical particles. The transition from quantum to classical statistics of two identical particles can be described by introducing multiple identical internal energy levels for each particle. We show that as the thermal energy exceeds the level spacing, the particles acquire effective distinguishability. This gives rise to a mesoscopic regime that smoothly connects quantum indistinguishability and classical distinguishability. A realistic experimental approach is proposed using a two-particle interferometer, where the particles reach statistical equilibrium before the two-particle distribution is measured. The unitarity of the scattering and separation processes guarantees preservation of the equilibrium distribution, enabling a direct measurement of the two-particle statistical distribution. Our results show the transition between quantum and classical behavior of the two-particle distribution, which can be directly probed by a realistic experiment.
Usually fermions and bosons behave very differently. Regarding distinguishability, they behave in one and the same way. Two-identical-particle quantum theory is discussed on the example of the deuteron and that of distant correlations, as well as on the example of the real interference and quantum erasure experiments in the Hong–Ou–Mandel two-photon interferometer (with and without polarizers and analyzers). Distinguishability and indistinguishability of two identical photons in the experiments are illustrated. It is demonstrated, using a simple formalism valid simultaneously for fermions and for bosons, that there exists an isomorphism giving theoretical foundation to distinguishing two identical particles. But the distinguishing has a limited range of exact applicability. In most cases of interest, only the indistinguishability approach has a first-principle (and universal) validity.
According to the identity principle in quantum theory, states of a system consisted of identical particles should maintain unchanged under interchanging between two of the particles. The whole wavefunction should be symmetrized or antisymmetrized. This leads to statistical correlations between particles, which exhibit observable effects. We design an experiment to directly observe such effects for bosons. The experiment is performed with two photons. The effect of statistical correlations is clearly observed when the wavepackets of two photons are completely overlapped, and this effect varies with the degree of overlapping. The results of our experiment substantiate the statistical correlation in a simple way. Experiment reported here can also be regarded as another kind of two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, occurs in the polarization degree of freedom of photon.
Quantum interference constitutes one of the sharpest divides between our classical intuition and the weirdness of the quantum world. Whenever there are multiple paths leading to the same outcome, it is the interplay of associated probability amplitudes that determines measurement results. In the double slit experiment, wave-like interference governs the distribution of particles on a detection screen. Extending to multiple particles allows behaviour that cannot be described by a classical wave, such as the bunching of photon pairs in Hong-Ou-Mandel interference. In both these examples, the ability to distinguish the interfering paths leads to degradation of interference and a return to behaviour described by probabilities. Understanding how this transition evolves for larger multiparticle quantum systems is of fundamental interest and also vital for developing photonic quantum technologies that rely on many-photon interference. In this thesis we investigate the role of distinguishability in the interference of three and four independent photons by using polarisation and time delays. For three photons, a new type of collective distinguishing phase appears that goes beyond a pairwise description of the similarity of quantum states. We use nonlinear photon sources and a fibre interferometer to experimentally demonstrate the ability to tune and isolate this phase in interference statistics. Extending to four photons we show that, contrary to intuition from two-photon experiments, the interference of photons prepared in distinguishable states is possible due to a four-particle phase. This is confirmed experimentally using a bulk four-mode interferometer. We then extend our study to include the effects of state impurity in the interference of three photons. New properties of this interference enable diagnosis of realistic experimental imperfections and characterisation tasks impossible using only two photons. Finally, we link discussions of state distinguishability to the group representations underpinning the exchange symmetry of multiparticle wavefunctions.
Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometry allows one to detect the presence of entanglement in two-photon input states. The same result holds for two-particle input states which obey fermionic statistics. In the latter case, however, antibouncing introduces qualitative differences in the interferometer response. This effect is analyzed in a gedanken experiment where the particles entering the interferometer are assumed to belong to a one-parameter family of quons which continuously interpolate between the bosonic and fermionic statistics.