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Journal of the Optical Society of America A

Analogies between classical scalar wave fields in any state of spatial coherence and some quantum states of light

Román Castañeda, Gustavo Cañas, Herbert Vinck-Posada

Published Mar 15, 2012• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

The border between the descriptions of the classical optical fields in any state of spatial coherence and the quantum coherence state of light is revisited in the framework of the phase-space representation. Although it is established that such descriptions are not completely equivalent, the exact calculation of the marginal power spectrum leads to new analogies that suggest that some features exclusively attributed to quantum states of light can be also shared by classical optical fields due to their spatial coherence state.

DOI
10.1364/josaa.29.000463

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The border between the descriptions of the classical optical fields in any state of spatial coherence and the quantum coherence state of light is revisited in the framework of the phase-space representation. Although it is established that such descriptions are not completely equivalent, the exact calculation of the marginal power spectrum leads to new analogies that suggest that some features exclusively attributed to quantum states of light can be also shared by classical optical fields due to their spatial coherence state.
In the framework of the spatial coherence wavelets, different features of the first-order spatial coherence (Young's interference) are analysed by calculating the corresponding marginal power spectrum, a close related quantity to the classical Wigner Distribution Function (WDF) of the optical field. The consideration of radiant and virtual point sources evidences some effects, conventionally attributed to non-classical correlations of light, although such type of correlations are not explicitly included in the model. Specifically, a light state is produced that has similar morphology to the WDF of the well-known quantum Schrödinger cat state.
Introduction In our discussion of the classical electromagnetic field we found it convenient to describe the field by a complex amplitude, both in the frequency and in the time domains. The complex representation is convenient partly because it contains information about the magnitude and about the phase of the electromagnetic disturbance, and partly because of its analytic properties. These features turn out to be particularly useful for the description of the optical coherence properties of the field. We shall see that an analogous quantum state of the field exists, leading to an interesting representation that is also particularly useful for the treatment of optical coherence. This coherent-state representation leads to a close correspondence between the quantum and classical correlation functions. The coherent states of the field come as close as possible to being classical states of definite complex amplitude. We shall find that coherent states turn out to be particularly appropriate for the description of the electromagnetic fields generated by coherent sources, like lasers and parametric oscillators; indeed it turns out that the field produced by any deterministic current source is in a coherent state. In the following sections we shall examine some of the properties of coherent states, and then go on to discuss representations based on these states. Coherent states were first discovered in connection with the quantum harmonic oscillator by Schrödinger (1926), who referred to them as states of minimum uncertainty product.
Quantum–classical analogy reveals the shared mathematical framework and dynamical physical behaviors between quantum and classical systems. This work reviews structured light as a versatile platform for realizing such analogies. Theoretical mappings between quantum states and optical modes are summarized, followed by representative cases including entanglement state, cat state, coherent state, and squeezed state, where quantum features are emulated through tailored amplitude, phase, and polarization structures. Applications in quantum-inspired communication, teleportation, random walks, and billiard are further discussed. This work provides a systematic overview of the connections between quantum phenomena and classical optics and offers methodological guidance for future photonic implementations.
Light is known to exhibit quantum uncertainty in terms of its amplitude, phase, and polarization. However, quantum uncertainty related to coherence, which is also a fundamental physical property of light, remains to be considered. Here, we formulate and explore the concept of quantum optical coherence uncertainty. We focus on the first-order coherence of the simplest possible light field, a purely monochromatic plane wave, which is classically completely stable. Starting from a scalar treatment, we show that the field displays zero coherence uncertainty only for a number state. We then proceed to the vectorial regime and establish that any state leads to coherence fluctuations, governed by a set of uncertainty relations depending on the polarization state and space-time points. Our work thus provides fundamental insights into the quantum character of optical coherence, with potential benefits in applications using highly sensitive interferometric and polarimetric techniques.
Abstract Quantum Mechanics and classical optics feature similar phenomena such as superposition, interference and even entanglement. Hence, techniques from optics can be used in quantum mechanics and vice versa. In this article I address the question: What can we learn from formulating optics in the language of quantum mechanics? It is argued that the solutions of the wave equations for the electromagnetic field form a tensor product of Hilbert spaces corresponding to the degrees of freedom of classical light. Therefore, it comprises non-separable solutions reminiscent of entanglement. Moreover, the two spatial degrees of freedom each carry non-commuting position and momentum variables forming a Heisenberg algebra like quantum particles moving in a two dimensional space. An analogy between the dynamics of a quantum harmonic oscillator and paraxial light propagating through a converging lens is drawn. This article presents a modern formulation of optics in the language of state vectors and operators (based on Dirac’s notation) along the lines of an earlier contribution [1], specifying and explaining its results.