Far-field spatial coherence dictates the interference properties of scattered light and thermal emission. Traditionally, these phenomena are treated through disjointed paradigms: classical scattering descriptions assume cold objects lacking quantum fluctuations, idealized quantum scattering schemes ignore dissipation, and semiclassical fluctuational electrodynamics relies on phenomenological noise currents, precluding the consistent treatment of incident quantum states. Here, we develop a first-principles framework based on the modified Langevin noise formalism to unify the scattering of quantum light and the intrinsic thermal emission of finite dissipative objects. We demonstrate that the outgoing far-field spatial coherence separates into an algebraic superposition of two geometry-driven mechanisms, coupled by the global unitarity of the radiation-matter dynamics. The first mechanism, elastic scattering, acts as a non-unitary spatial filter, mode-selectively attenuating and reshaping incident quantum correlations. The second mechanism, thermal emission, originates from localized material dissipation and projects the object's absorption profile into the far field, providing a quantum-vectorial derivation of the macroscopic van Cittert-Zernike theorem. Applying this framework across optical regimes, we determine operational bounds for lossy quantum photonics. Under chaotic thermal illumination, we analytically demonstrate thermal cloaking at equilibrium and show that a passive sink casts a structured thermal shadow geometrically identical to a primary emitter. Under coherent illumination, we derive a thermodynamic phase diagram bounding macroscopic phase correlations, demonstrating that subwavelength nanostructures undergo substantial coherence degradation compared to bulk objects. Finally, under spatially entangled illumination...
Far-field spatial coherence dictates the interference properties of scattered light and thermal emission. Traditionally, these phenomena are treated through disjointed paradigms: classical scattering descriptions assume cold objects lacking quantum fluctuations, idealized quantum scattering schemes ignore dissipation, and semiclassical fluctuational electrodynamics relies on phenomenological noise currents, precluding the consistent treatment of incident quantum states. Here, we develop a first-principles framework based on the modified Langevin noise formalism to unify the scattering of quantum light and the intrinsic thermal emission of finite dissipative objects. We demonstrate that the outgoing far-field spatial coherence separates into an algebraic superposition of two geometry-driven mechanisms, coupled by the global unitarity of the radiation-matter dynamics. The first mechanism, elastic scattering, acts as a non-unitary spatial filter, mode-selectively attenuating and reshaping incident quantum correlations. The second mechanism, thermal emission, originates from localized material dissipation and projects the object's absorption profile into the far field, providing a quantum-vectorial derivation of the macroscopic van Cittert-Zernike theorem. Applying this framework across optical regimes, we determine operational bounds for lossy quantum photonics. Under chaotic thermal illumination, we analytically demonstrate thermal cloaking at equilibrium and show that a passive sink casts a structured thermal shadow geometrically identical to a primary emitter. Under coherent illumination, we derive a thermodynamic phase diagram bounding macroscopic phase correlations, demonstrating that subwavelength nanostructures undergo substantial coherence degradation compared to bulk objects. Finally, under spatially entangled illumination...
We investigate the overall optomechanical force experienced by a macroscopic lossy object in free space under external quantum illumination. To this end, utilizing the Modified Langevin Noise Formalism (MLNF), we derive the time-averaged expectation value of the Maxwell stress tensor for a non-equilibrium scenario in which the incoming scattering field is prepared in an arbitrary mixed quantum state, while the medium-assisted field is maintained in local thermal equilibrium. In the limit of full radiation-matter thermal equilibrium, our expression exactly recovers the well-known fluctuation-dissipation relation governing the Casimir effect, and, under coherent illumination, it yields the standard classical radiation pressure. We demonstrate that by driving the scattering field with an anisotropic, multimode squeezed vacuum state, the spatial profile of the electromagnetic quantum fluctuations can be engineered to exhibit broken rotational symmetry, thereby inducing a purely quantum mechanical force acting on the object. Such mechanical interaction is generated in the strict absence of a mean field, ⟨E^⟩=0, and its non-classical nature is evidenced by its reliance on second-order field correlations ⟨E^2⟩, unlike classical optical radiation pressure governed by the squared mean field ⟨E^⟩2. Applying this exact formulation to a homogeneous lossy sphere, we demonstrate the experimental feasibility of the effect using realistic material parameters and optical estimations. Ultimately, we establish a general formalism for macroscopic quantum optomechanics that operates beyond the constraints of thermal equilibrium, enabling the prediction of regimes where the purely quantum force circumvents classical mean fields and shot noise while preserving the object's macroscopic quantum coherence.
Recent advances in quantum optics have highlighted the critical role of spatial propagation in controlling the quantum coherence of light beams. However, the evolution of quantum coherence for light beams undergoing fundamental optical processes at dielectric interfaces remains unexplored. Furthermore, manipulating multiphoton correlations typically requires complex interactions that challenge few-photon level implementation. Here, we introduce a quantum van Cittert-Zernike theorem for light beams, describing how their coherence-polarization properties are influenced by reflection and refraction, as well as how these properties evolve upon subsequent propagation. Our work demonstrates that the quantum statistics of photonic systems can be controllably modified through the inherent polarization coupling arising from reflection and refraction at an interface, without relying on conventional light-matter interactions. Our approach reveals regimes where thermal light can exhibit sub-Poissonian statistics with fluctuations below the shot-noise level through post-selected measurements, and this statistical property can be tuned by the incident angle. Remarkably, this quantum statistical modification is governed by a scaling law linking beam collimation to far-field thermalization. Our work establishes a robust, decoherence-avoiding mechanism for quantum state control, advancing the fundamental understanding of coherence in quantum optics and opening new avenues for applications in quantum information and metrology.
This thesis explores interference effects in classical and quantum optics through two independent theoretical frameworks, establishing electromagnetic interference as a unifying and physically measurable mechanism governing light-matter interactions. Both frameworks demonstrate how reflection-induced phase shifts and field coherence jointly govern measurable observables, providing a rigorous theoretical foundation for high-precision measurement, innovative sensing, and emerging applications in quantum information science. In the classical optics framework, reflectivity serves as the primary observable linking material parameters to changes in the reflected field. Using Fabry-Perot cavities, we demonstrate that phase-coherent back-reflection from target molecules, without any direct contact with the resonator, modifies the minima of the reflection spectrum, enabling remote, label-free detection while preserving cavity stability. In the quantum optics framework, we recast the Jaynes-Cummings model from a microscopic, first-principles derivation rather than a phenomenological ansatz. This yields quantitative predictions for the spontaneous emission rate across a continuous range of cavity geometries, showing that the cavity emission rate equals the free-space rate in conventional resonators, and exceeds it by a factor of approximately 20,000 in plasmonic nanocavities. For multiple emitters, the framework captures ultralong-range dipole-dipole interactions mediated by a mirror, with tunable superradiant and subradiant decay rates. This analysis further reveals a spatial-temporal correspondence between the collective decay rate and the temporal coherence of the emitted field, providing a unified interpretive framework for collective light-matter coupling, and opens a direct route to non-invasive distance sensing in nanophotonic systems.
Thermalization in quantum many-body systems typically unfolds over timescales governed by intrinsic relaxation mechanisms. Yet, its spatial aspect is less understood. We investigate this phenomenon in the nonequilibrium steady state (NESS) of a Bose-Hubbard chain subject to coherent driving and dissipation at its boundaries, a setup inspired by current designs in circuit quantum electrodynamics. The dynamical fingerprints of chaos in this NESS are probed using semiclassical out-of-time-order correlators within the truncated Wigner approximation. At intermediate drive strengths, we uncover a two-stage thermalization along the spatial dimension: phase coherence is rapidly lost near the drive, while amplitude relaxation occurs over much longer distances. This separation of scales gives rise to an extended hydrodynamic regime exhibiting anomalous temperature profiles, which we designate as a “prethermal” domain. At stronger drives, the system enters a nonthermal, non-chaotic finite-momentum condensate characterized by sub-Poissonian photon statistics and a spatially modulated phase profile, whose stability is undermined by quantum fluctuations. We explore the conditions underlying this protracted thermalization in space and argue that similar mechanisms are likely to emerge in a broad class of extended driven-dissipative systems. Thermalization in quantum many-body systems can unfold across space in surprising ways. The authors reveal nonequilibrium regimes in a driven-dissipative quantum chain, including a spatially emergent prethermal domain and a nonthermal condensate destabilized by quantum fluctuations, with broad implications for driven quantum platforms
This work develops a structural framework in which light is understood not as a propagating particle or wave, but as a process of electromagnetic field reorganization constrained by geometry and material conditions.Emission is treated as a local disruption of field coherence rather than the creation of a traveling entity. Between emission and absorption, the field enters an open, pre-realizational phase in which no localized physical event occurs. Geometry, material boundaries, and environmental structure act as physical selectors that restrict admissible field configurations. A photon is realized only at absorption, as the localized closure of this open field organization.The framework integrates established empirical phenomena — including spontaneous emission, interference with single quanta, cavity quantum electrodynamics, detector discreteness, and mirror behavior — into a single causal architecture, without introducing new field equations or modifying the formalism of Maxwellian electrodynamics or quantum electrodynamics.The speed of light is interpreted as a structural limit governing the maximal rate at which coherent field organization can be maintained across spatial separation, rather than as the velocity of a transported object. The work further identifies a continuity between quantum and gravitational regimes, in which both emerge from a common phase structure but correspond to different domains of realizability.The proposal is structural rather than dynamical in scope. It does not introduce new laws or entities, but specifies where and when physical events are taken to occur within existing electromagnetic theory, thereby providing a unified physical account of emission, interference, reflection, and photon detection.
One of the most intriguing quantum phenomena of light is the wave–particle duality which is related to the inability of the classical wave and particle concepts to fully describe the behavior of quantum objects. Theoretically, the wave features of the electromagnetic field, such as interference, follow from the solution of Maxwell's equations while particle features are a consequence of the field quantization, in which the electromagnetic field is described to consist of discrete energy packets, photons. Due to the wave–particle duality, for example, simultaneous description of optical absorption, emission, and interference of propagating fields has conventionally not been considered feasible using local optical models but has required using Maxwell's equations with stochastic source terms accounting for the wave–particle duality. Also the description of the momentum of light in a medium has been problematic.
In the research described in this thesis, the quantized fluctuational electrodynamics (QFED) model is derived based on combining the electromagnetic Green's functions to the field quantization to describe the position dependence of the photon number and local thermal balance in general non-equilibrium conditions, and to separate the electromagnetic field into parts propagating in different directions in resonant structures, which has conventionally been problematic due to interference effects. The QFED method is shown to resolve the previously found anomalies in the canonical commutation relations of photon ladder operators. The QFED method is also used to derive quantum optical field–matter interaction parameters fully capturing the interference, emission, damping, and scattering of propagating photons in stratified media leading to an interference-exact radiative transfer equation (RTE) model. Therefore, the derived interaction parameters solve the problem of simultaneously describing interference and losses in the widely used RTE framework.
The particle aspects of light are also studied by directly applying the conservation laws of nature and the special theory of relativity to show that light propagating in a medium must be described as mass-polariton (MP) quasiparticles, covariant coupled states of the field and matter. These quasiparticles are shown to have momentum of the Minkowski form and a nonzero mass that is carried by a mass density wave associated with light. The field–matter interaction related to the MP quasiparticles also leads to the dissipation of photon energy. These particle model results are also derived using a wave-based optoelastic continuum dynamics (OCD) approach following from the electrodynamics of continuous media and the continuum mechanics. The obtained results verify the full agreement between the wave and particle models when they are correctly applied. The key finding that a light pulse propagating in a medium is inevitably associated with an experimentally measurable mass implies a fundamental change in the prevailing perceptions of light.; Eras kiehtovimmista valon…