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arXiv:2610.03040

Direct estimation of $g^{(2)}(0)$ from click statistics of a multiplexed detector

Jaromír Fiurášek

quant-phSubmitted Oct 2, 2026• Announced Oct 5, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

We present and theoretically analyze a method for direct estimation of the second-order correlation function $g^{(2)}(0)$ from the click statistics of a multiplexed detector composed of M binary on-off detection channels. The method uses linear estimators of the first and second moments of the photon-number operator and can provide accurate results even for optical fields with substantial mean photon numbers. For a fixed number of channels, the detection range can be extended by introducing additional losses before the detector. We demonstrate the performance of the method for coherent, thermal, amplitude-squeezed, and photon-added coherent states. We also derive a nonclassicality criterion based on the estimated correlation function and show how the method can be adapted to unbalanced detectors. Our work establishes direct estimation of $g^{(2)}(0)$ as a simple and versatile method for quantitatively characterizing quantum light using multiplexed click detectors.

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