Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium

Transient first-order interference of two independent thermal light beams

Jianbin Liu, Mingnan Le, Bin Bai, Wentao Wang, Zhuo Xu

Published Aug 1, 2014• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

By analyzing the first-order interference of two independent thermal light beams in Feynman's path integral theory, we conclude that it is impossible to observe the transient first-order interference pattern by superposing two independent thermal light beams if the initial phases of the photons in thermal light are random. The result suggests that the classical model of thermal light field within the coherence time may not be the same as the one of laser light field within the coherence time.

DOI
10.1109/ursigass.2014.6929465

Related papers

Transient first-order interference of two independent thermal light beams

Bin Bai, Jianbin Liu, Songlin Zhang +4 more

By analyzing the transient first-order interference of two independent thermal light beams in both classical and quantum theories, we conclude that for a certain kind of thermal light, it is impossible to observe the transient first-order interference pattern by superposing two independent thermal light beams even if the degeneracy parameter of thermal light is much greater than one. The result suggests that the well-accepted classical model of a thermal light field within the coherence time is not valid for all kinds of thermal light, which is important and helpful to understand the first-order interference of thermal light.

arXiv:1312.5805•Journal of the Optical Society of America B•Mar 17, 2016•0 citations

The first- and second-order temporal interference between thermal and laser light

Jianbin Liu, Huaibin Zheng, Hui Chen +3 more

The first- and second-order temporal interference between two independent thermal and laser light beams is discussed by employing the superposition principle in Feynman's path integral theory. It is concluded that the first-order temporal interference pattern can not be observed by superposing two independent thermal and laser light beams, while the second-order temporal interference pattern can be observed in the same condition. These predictions are experimentally verified by employing pseudothermal light to simulate thermal light. The relationship between the indistinguishability of alternatives and photons is analyzed. The conclusions are helpful to understand the interference of different kinds of light and the difference between the coherence properties of thermal and laser light.

arXiv:1412.8238•Optics Express•Apr 27, 2015•12 citations

Second-Order Temporal Interference with Thermal Light: Interference beyond the Coherence Time

Yong Sup Ihn, Yosep Kim, Vincenzo Tamma +1 more

We report observation of a counter-intuitive phenomenon in multi-path correlation interferometry with thermal light. The intensity correlation between the outputs of two unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers (UMZI) with two classically correlated beams of thermal light at the input exhibits genuine second-order interference with the visibility of 1/3. Surprisingly, the second-order interference does not degrade at all no matter how much the path length difference in each UMZI is increased beyond the coherence length of the thermal light. Moreover, the second-order interference is dependent on the difference of the UMZI phases. These results differ substantially from those of the entangled-photon Franson interferometer which exhibits two-photon interference dependent on the sum of the UMZI phases and the interference vanishes as the path length difference in each UMZI exceeds the coherence length of the pump laser. Our work offers deeper insight into the interplay between interference and coherence in multi-photon interferometry.

Optical Fiber Communication Conference•Mar 1, 2023•0 citations

Second-Order Temporal Interference with Thermal Light: Interference beyond the Coherence Time

Yong Sup Ihn, Yosep Kim, Vincenzo Tamma +1 more

We report observation of a counter-intuitive phenomenon in multi-path correlation interferometry with thermal light. The intensity correlation between the outputs of two unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers (UMZI) with two classically correlated beams of thermal light at the input exhibits genuine second-order interference with the visibility of 1/3. Surprisingly, the second-order inter- ference does not degrade at all no matter how much the path length difference in each UMZI is increased beyond the coherence length of the thermal light. Moreover, the second-order interference is dependent on the difference of the UMZI phases. These results differ substantially from those of the entangled-photon Franson interferometer which exhibits two-photon interference dependent on the sum of the UMZI phases and the interference vanishes as the path length difference in each UMZI exceeds the coherence length of the pump laser. Our work offers deeper insight into the interplay between interference and coherence in multi-photon interferometry.

Optical Fiber Communication Conference•Jan 1, 2023•0 citations

Second-order temporal interference of two independent light beams at an asymmetrical beam splitter

Jianbin Liu, Jingjing Wang, Zhuo Xu

The second-order temporal interference of classical and nonclassical light at an asymmetrical beam splitter is discussed based on two-photon interference in Feynman's path integral theory. The visibility of the second-order interference pattern is determined by the properties of the superposed light beams, the ratio between the intensities of these two light beams, and the reflectivity of the asymmetrical beam splitter. Some requirements about the asymmetrical beam splitter have to be satisfied in order to ensure that the visibility of the second-order interference pattern of nonclassical light beams exceeds the classical limit. The visibility of the second-order interference pattern of photons emitted by two independent single-photon sources is independent of the ratio between the intensities. These conclusions are important for the researches and applications in quantum optics and quantum information when an asymmetrical beam splitter is employed.

arXiv:1608.07941•Chinese Physics B•Jan 1, 2017•4 citations

Second-Order Temporal Interference with Thermal Light: Interference beyond the Coherence Time

Yong Sup Ihn, Yosep Kim, Vincenzo Tamma +1 more

We report the observation of a counterintuitive phenomenon in multipath correlation interferometry with thermal light. The intensity correlation between the outputs of two unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers (UMZIs) with two classically correlated beams of thermal light at the input exhibits genuine second-order interference with the visibility of 1/3. Surprisingly, the second-order interference does not degrade at all no matter how much the path length difference in each UMZI is increased beyond the coherence length of the thermal light. Moreover, the second-order interference is dependent on the difference of the UMZI phases. These results differ substantially from those of the entangled-photon Franson interferometer, which exhibits two-photon interference dependent on the sum of the UMZI phases and the interference vanishes as the path length difference in each UMZI exceeds the coherence length of the pump laser. Our work offers deeper insight into the interplay between interference and coherence in multiphoton interferometry.

arXiv:1706.00170•Physical Review Letters•Dec 28, 2017•35 citations
By analyzing the first-order interference of two independent thermal light beams in Feynman's path integral theory, we conclude that it is impossible to observe the transient first-order interference pattern by superposing two independent thermal light beams if the initial phases of the photons in thermal light are random. The result suggests that the classical model of thermal light field within the coherence time may not be the same as the one of laser light field within the coherence time.
By analyzing the transient first-order interference of two independent thermal light beams in both classical and quantum theories, we conclude that for a certain kind of thermal light, it is impossible to observe the transient first-order interference pattern by superposing two independent thermal light beams even if the degeneracy parameter of thermal light is much greater than one. The result suggests that the well-accepted classical model of a thermal light field within the coherence time is not valid for all kinds of thermal light, which is important and helpful to understand the first-order interference of thermal light.
The first- and second-order temporal interference between two independent thermal and laser light beams is discussed by employing the superposition principle in Feynman's path integral theory. It is concluded that the first-order temporal interference pattern can not be observed by superposing two independent thermal and laser light beams, while the second-order temporal interference pattern can be observed in the same condition. These predictions are experimentally verified by employing pseudothermal light to simulate thermal light. The relationship between the indistinguishability of alternatives and photons is analyzed. The conclusions are helpful to understand the interference of different kinds of light and the difference between the coherence properties of thermal and laser light.
We report observation of a counter-intuitive phenomenon in multi-path correlation interferometry with thermal light. The intensity correlation between the outputs of two unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers (UMZI) with two classically correlated beams of thermal light at the input exhibits genuine second-order interference with the visibility of 1/3. Surprisingly, the second-order interference does not degrade at all no matter how much the path length difference in each UMZI is increased beyond the coherence length of the thermal light. Moreover, the second-order interference is dependent on the difference of the UMZI phases. These results differ substantially from those of the entangled-photon Franson interferometer which exhibits two-photon interference dependent on the sum of the UMZI phases and the interference vanishes as the path length difference in each UMZI exceeds the coherence length of the pump laser. Our work offers deeper insight into the interplay between interference and coherence in multi-photon interferometry.
We report observation of a counter-intuitive phenomenon in multi-path correlation interferometry with thermal light. The intensity correlation between the outputs of two unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers (UMZI) with two classically correlated beams of thermal light at the input exhibits genuine second-order interference with the visibility of 1/3. Surprisingly, the second-order inter- ference does not degrade at all no matter how much the path length difference in each UMZI is increased beyond the coherence length of the thermal light. Moreover, the second-order interference is dependent on the difference of the UMZI phases. These results differ substantially from those of the entangled-photon Franson interferometer which exhibits two-photon interference dependent on the sum of the UMZI phases and the interference vanishes as the path length difference in each UMZI exceeds the coherence length of the pump laser. Our work offers deeper insight into the interplay between interference and coherence in multi-photon interferometry.
The second-order temporal interference of classical and nonclassical light at an asymmetrical beam splitter is discussed based on two-photon interference in Feynman's path integral theory. The visibility of the second-order interference pattern is determined by the properties of the superposed light beams, the ratio between the intensities of these two light beams, and the reflectivity of the asymmetrical beam splitter. Some requirements about the asymmetrical beam splitter have to be satisfied in order to ensure that the visibility of the second-order interference pattern of nonclassical light beams exceeds the classical limit. The visibility of the second-order interference pattern of photons emitted by two independent single-photon sources is independent of the ratio between the intensities. These conclusions are important for the researches and applications in quantum optics and quantum information when an asymmetrical beam splitter is employed.
We report the observation of a counterintuitive phenomenon in multipath correlation interferometry with thermal light. The intensity correlation between the outputs of two unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers (UMZIs) with two classically correlated beams of thermal light at the input exhibits genuine second-order interference with the visibility of 1/3. Surprisingly, the second-order interference does not degrade at all no matter how much the path length difference in each UMZI is increased beyond the coherence length of the thermal light. Moreover, the second-order interference is dependent on the difference of the UMZI phases. These results differ substantially from those of the entangled-photon Franson interferometer, which exhibits two-photon interference dependent on the sum of the UMZI phases and the interference vanishes as the path length difference in each UMZI exceeds the coherence length of the pump laser. Our work offers deeper insight into the interplay between interference and coherence in multiphoton interferometry.