Photon statistics and optical birefringence

H.‐H. Ritze

P. W. Atkins, A.D. Wilson

The theoretical dependence of optical birefringence phenomena on the statistical nature of the light is investigated. Photon S-matrix calculations lead to expressions relating the change induced in the statistical nature of the beam to the molecular properties of the target sample. A hypothetical generalized optical birefringence experiment is analysed: in the experiment the coincidences of photons arriving at spatially separated detectors sensitive to different polarizations are observed with and without the sample in the beam, and the difference in the photon correlations depend on the initial statistical composition and polarization of the beam and the molecular properties of the sample. When the beam is generated by a thermal source the difference of the signals (with and without the sample) depends on the product of the polarizability and optical rotation tensors. When the light is generated by a single-mode coherent source the statistical properties of the light are such as to eliminate the second-order interaction terms, and so the experiment yields the hyperpolarizability and hyper-rotation tensors automatically and with the explicit exclusion of the polarization and rotation tensor contributions.

Ramabhadra Vasudevan

Stepan Baryshev, Anton V. Zasedatelev, Helgi Sigurðsson +4 more

We implement full polarization tomography on the photon correlations in a spinor exciton-polariton condensate. Our measurements reveal condensate pseudospin mean-field dynamics spanning from stochastic switching between linear polarization components, limit cycles, and stable fixed points, and their intrinsic relation to the condensate photon statistics. We optically harness the cavity birefringence, polariton interactions, and the optical orientation of the photoexcited exciton background to engineer photon statistics with precise control. Our results demonstrate a smooth transition from a highly coherent to a super-thermal state of the condensate polarization components.

S. Baryshev, A. Zasedatelev, H. Sigurdsson +4 more

We implement full polarization tomography on photon correlations in a spinor exciton-polariton condensate. Our measurements reveal condensate pseudospin mean-field dynamics spanning from stochastic switching between linear polarization components, limit cycles, and stable fixed points, and their intrinsic relation to the condensate photon statistics. We optically harness the cavity birefringence, polariton interactions, and the optical orientation of an incoherent exciton reservoir to engineer photon statistics with precise control. Our results demonstrate a smooth transition from a highly coherent to a super-thermal state of the condensate polarization components.

Jan Pefina