Photon Statistics in a Waveguide: Beyond Bunching and Antibunching

Gerd Leuchs

Xin H. H. Zhang, Harold U. Baranger

We obtain photon statistics by using a quantum jump approach tailored to a system in which one or two qubits are coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide. Photons confined in the waveguide have strong interference effects, which are shown to play a vital role in quantum jumps and photon statistics. For a single qubit, for instance, the bunching of transmitted photons is heralded by a jump that increases the qubit population. We show that the distribution and correlations of waiting times offer a clearer and more precise characterization of photon bunching and antibunching. Further, the waiting times can be used to characterize complex correlations of photons which are hidden in ${g}^{(2)}(\ensuremath{\tau})$, such as a mixture of bunching and antibunching.

Susan Zoriasatain, M Mohamadi Kanan

Malvin Carl Teich, Bahaa E. A. Saleh

We examine the effect of Bernoulli random deletion and additive independent Poisson noise on photon-counting statistics. It is shown that under the action of such deletion and/or noise, both bunched and antibunched distributions move toward the Poisson distribution but never convert from bunched to antibunched or vice versa. Specific calculations are carried out for a number of examples of importance in optics.

Matteo Pasini, Nina Codreanu, Tim Turan +8 more

Color centers integrated with nanophotonic devices have emerged as a compelling platform for quantum science and technology. Here, we integrate tin-vacancy centers in a diamond waveguide and investigate the interaction with light at the single-photon level in both reflection and transmission. We observe single-emitter-induced extinction of the transmitted light up to 25% and measure the nonlinear effect on the photon statistics. Furthermore, we demonstrate fully tunable interference between the reflected single-photon field and laser light backscattered at the fiber end and show the corresponding controlled change between bunched and antibunched photon statistics in the reflected field.

Ren Fang Chang, Robert W. Detenbeck, Victor Korenman +2 more