Two landmark photon correlation effects, the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlation in a quantum entangled source and the Hanbury-Brown-Twiss (HBT) correlation in a thermal light source, have long attracted great attention from the physics community. Here, we report the experimental generation of an all-purpose photon-correlation source called holographic thermal light, including both HBT-type and EPR-like correlations, with thermal photons over a wide spectral range (from UV to IR) and a typical polarization combination. All two-photon correlations are established in the framework of linear optics. Interestingly, the topological structures of the diffraction patterns of the sources are very similar to those in type-I and type-II spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) processes. Holographic thermal light with multiple degrees of freedom will establish a quantum-inspired, high-brightness, low-cost classical demonstration platform capable of facilitating various quantum imaging applications at the single-photon level.
Two landmark photon correlation effects, the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlation in a quantum entangled source and the Hanbury-Brown-Twiss (HBT) correlation in a thermal light source, have long attracted great attention from the physics community. Here, we report the experimental generation of an all-purpose photon-correlation source called holographic thermal light, including both HBT-type and EPR-like correlations, with thermal photons over a wide spectral range (from UV to IR) and a typical polarization combination. All two-photon correlations are established in the framework of linear optics. Interestingly, the topological structures of the diffraction patterns of the sources are very similar to those in type-I and type-II spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) processes. Holographic thermal light with multiple degrees of freedom will establish a quantum-inspired, high-brightness, low-cost classical demonstration platform capable of facilitating various quantum imaging applications at the single-photon level.
Abstract Entanglement and correlation of photons play a central role in quantum information and communication. There are two types of photon correlations: one usually exists in a two‐particle entangled state first conceived by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) in 1935, while the other occurs in a thermal light source found by Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT) in 1956. Many studies are concerned with the physical nature and differences behind the two types of photon correlations. Here, a holography‐inspired linear optical system that generates a pair of conjugate chaotic beams is proposed, which include both HBT‐type and EPR‐like correlations. From principle to experimental generation, the study presents a classical paradigm of a simple bi‐correlation light source for diverse quantum‐mimic applications such as two‐photon imaging.
The observation of the Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT) effect with thermal light marked the birth of quantum optics. All the thermal sources considered to date did not feature quantum signatures of light, as they consisted of independent emitters that emit uncorrelated photons. Here, we propose and demonstrate an incoherent light source based on phase-randomized spatially entangled photons, which we coin thermal biphotons. We show that in contrast to thermal light, the width of the HBT peak for thermal biphotons is determined by their correlations, leading to violation of the Siegert relation and breakdown of the speckle-fluctuations interpretation. We further provide an alternative interpretation of the results by drawing a connection between the HBT effect and coherent backscattering of light. Finally, we discuss the role of spatial entanglement in the observed results, deriving a relation between the Schmidt number and the degree of violation of the Siegert relation under the double-Gaussian approximation of spontaneous parametric down conversion. Our work reflects new insights on the coherence properties of thermal light in the presence of entanglement, paving the way for entanglement certification using disorder averaged measurements.
Abstract Investigations of photon correlations similar to the Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiment are since the advent of quantum optics in the center of both fundamental and application-oriented research. We derive a factorial moment-generating function of the probability distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a source and absorbed by a photodetector from which we calculate an analytical expression for the second-order correlation coefficient g(2) g ( 2 ) which reflects spatial coherence properties of the emitted light. The measurement of g(2) g ( 2 ) thus allows to retrieve the spatial coherence parameter of the light source in terms of the combination of source area, source-detector distance, wavelength and detector area. The validity of the concept is proven by investigating g(2) g ( 2 ) of true thermal light from a Xenon arc lamp and from the sun for various detector areas, in excellent agreement with the theory. Finally, we suggest a novel scheme for determining light source diameters by exploiting the spatially dependent statistics and confirm its validity by exemplary calculations. These results based on radiation thermodynamics and photon statistics give fresh insight into quantum optical properties of classical light sources, photon correlations and photodetection with promising applications perspectives, more than 68 years after the original Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiment.
Quantum opticians usually employ and exploit genuine or modified HBT setups as standard tools for characterizing non-classical states of light. One the one hand, HBT measurements permit to characterize the emission statistics of photonic modes that are, depending on the emitter and on the spatial and spectral features, thermal, poissonnian, sub-poissonnian, or deterministic. On the other hand, auto-correlation and cross-correlation functions, recorded in the single photon counting regime, permit to infer the unique properties of single photon and two photons sources, that are further utilized in quantum communication applications. For instance, when applied to a single photon source, a genuine HBT setup helps qualifying the uniqueness emission feature. Moreover, when applied to a two photon source, a modified HBT setup permits measuring simultaneous emission time correlations, as well as single photon coherence time. During this talk, I will review some situations in which HBT type setups and related measurements are exploited in and for quantum optics or communication experiments.
Photons emitted by incoherent sources exhibit temporal bunching, a fundamental manifestation of Bose-Einstein statistics first observed by Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT). While intensity correlation measurements originated in astronomy and are now central across quantum technologies, biophysics, and spectroscopy, observing temporal bunching in broadband thermal light remains limited by detector temporal resolution. Conventional approaches - such as streak cameras or optical upconversion - introduce severe trade-offs in efficiency, bandwidth, or setup versatility. Here, we propose and demonstrate a third route: pre-detection temporal magnification of the optical field prior to measuring its intensity autocorrelation function in a conventional HBT setup. Using an electro-optic time lens with a temporal magnification of 660, we resolve the temporal intensity autocorrelation of broadband thermal light generated via non-degenerate spontaneous parametric down-conversion with a bandwidth of 250 GHz. This enables direct observation of thermal photon bunching on sub-3.5 picosecond timescales without narrow spectral filtering, establishing pre-detection temporal imaging as a general platform for broadband statistical optics, with applications spanning ultrafast quantum optics, biophysical imaging, and potentially stellar intensity interferometry.
The Hanbury Brown–Twiss (HBT) interferometer, which is used to measure the correlation of two photons or two light beams, has played a crucial role in quantum optics and quantum information. We propose a generalized HBT interferometer, which is able to measure the correlation of photons or light beams up to eight in a single experimental run. With an improved time correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) algorithm, two-, three-, and four-photon coincidence counts, and the degree of fifth-order coherence of pseudothermal light are measured with a data collection time of 60 s. The generalized HBT interferometer can be used to measure the correlation of two multi-photon detection events by simulating photon number resolving detectors with multiple single-photon detectors. The generalized HBT interferometer and improved TCSPC algorithm provide a versatile framework for studying multi-photon correlations and interference, which is helpful to understand the physics of multi-photon interference and may find applications in fluorescence lifetime imaging and other techniques using TCSPC.