Can two-photon correlation of chaotic light be considered as correlation of intensity fluctuations?

High-visibility, high-order lensless ghost imaging with thermal light

High-visibility Nth-order ghost imaging with thermal light has been realized by recording only the intensities in two optical paths in a lensless setup. It is shown that the visibility is dramatically enhanced as the order N increases, but longer integration times are required owing to the increased fluctuations of higher-order intensity correlation functions. It is also demonstrated that the required integration time for a good image depends on the partition ratio of the intensities on the two detectors and the complexity of the object.

Optimization of thermal ghost imaging: high-order correlations vs. background subtraction

We compare the performance of high-order thermal ghost imaging with that of conventional (that is, lowest-order) thermal ghost imaging for different data processing methods. Particular attention is given to high-order thermal ghost imaging with background normalization and conventional ghost imaging with background subtraction. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the ghost image is used as the figure of merit for the comparison.We find analytically that the CNR of the normalized high-order ghost image is inversely proportional to the square root of the number of transmitting pixels of the object. This scaling law is independent of the exponents used in calculating the high-order correlation and is the same as that of conventional ghost imaging with background subtraction. We find that no data processing procedure performs better than lowest-order ghost imaging with background subtraction. Our results are found to be able to explain the observations of a recent experiment [Chen et al., arXiv:0902.3713v3 [quant-ph]].

Interference from a nonlocal double-slit through one-photon process

In this paper, we report an interference experiment in which a spatially incoherent light source illuminates two spatially separated apertures, whose superposition at the same place forms a double-slit. The experimental result exhibits a well-defined interference fringe solely through intensity measurements, in agreement with the theoretical analysis by means of the first-order spatial interference of the incoherent light. Consequently, the nonlocal double-slit interference with thermal light should be attributed to the first-order spatial correlation of incoherent field.

High-order thermal ghost imaging

We show theoretically that high-order thermal ghost imaging has considerably higher visibility and contrast-to-noise ratio than conventional thermal ghost imaging, which utilizes the lowest-order intensity cross correlation of the object and the reference signal. We also deduce the optimal power order of the correlation that gives the best contrast-to-noise ratio.

Holographic ghost imaging and the violation of a Bell inequality

We demonstrate the contrast enhancement of images within a ghost-imaging system by use of nonlocal phase filters. We use parametric down-conversion as the two-photon light source and two separated phase modulators, in the signal and idler arms which represent different phase filters and objects, respectively. We obtain edge enhanced images as a direct consequence of the quantum correlations in the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of the down-converted photon pairs. For phase objects, with differently orientated edges, we show a violation of a Bell-type inequality for an OAM subspace, thereby unambiguously revealing the quantum nature of our ghost-imaging arrangement.

Ghost imaging through turbulent atmosphere

Ghost imaging through turbulent atmospheres are theoretically studied. Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel integral, we obtain an analytical imaging formula. The ghost image can be viewed as the convolution of the original object and a point-spread function (PSF). The imaging quality is determined by the size of the PSF. Increasing the turbulence strength and propagation distance, or decreasing the source size, will increase the size of the PSF, and lead to the degradation of the imaging quality.

Lensless ghost imaging with true thermal light

We report the first (to our knowledge) experimental demonstration of lensless ghost imaging with true thermal light. Although there is no magnification, the method is suitable for all wavelengths and so may find special applications in cases where it is not possible to use lenses, such as with x rays or gamma rays. We also numerically show that some magnification may be realized away from the focal plane, but the image will always be somewhat blurred.

Nonlocal quantum macroscopic superposition in a high-thermal low-purity state

Quantum state exchange between light and matter is an important ingredient for future quantum information networks as well as other applications. Photons are the fastest and simplest carriers of information for transmission but in general, it is difficult to localize and store photons, so usually one prefers choosing matter as quantum memory elements. Macroscopic superposition and nonlocal quantum interactions have received considerable interest for this purpose over recent years in fields ranging from quantum computers to cryptography, in addition to providing major insights into physical laws. However, these experiments are generally performed either with equipment or under conditions that are unrealistic for practical applications. Ideally, the two can be combined using conventional equipment and conditions to generate a "quantum teleportation"-like state, particularly with a very small amount of purity existing in an overall highly mixed thermal state (relatively low decoherence at high temperatures). In this study we used an experimental design to demonstrate these principles. We performed optical coherence tomography (OCT) using a thermal source at room temperatures of a specifically designed target in the sample arm. Here, position uncertainty (i.e., dispersion) was induced in the reference arm. In the sample arm (target) we placed two glass plates separated by a different medium while altering position uncertainty in the reference arm. This resulted in a chirped signal between the glass plate reflective surfaces in the combined interferogram. The chirping frequency, as measured by the fast Fourier transform (FFT), varies with the medium between the plates, which is a nonclassical phenomenon. These results are statistically significant and occur from a superposition between the glass surface and the medium with increasing position uncertainty, a true quantum-mechanical phenomenon produced by photon pressure from two-photon interference. The differences in chirping frequency with medium disappears when second-order correlations are removed by dual balanced detection, confirming the proposed mechanism. We demonstrated that increasing position uncertainty at one site leads to position uncertainty (quantum position probability amplitude) nonlocally via second-order correlations (two-photon probability amplitude) from a low coherence thermal source (low purity, high local entropy). The implications, first, are that the phenomenon cannot be explained through classical mechanisms but can be explained within the context of quantum mechanics, particularly relevant to the second-order correlations where controversy exists. More specifically, we provide the theoretical framework that these results indicate a nonlocal macroscopic superposition is occurring through a two-photon probability amplitude-induced increase in the target position probability amplitude uncertainty. In addition, as the experiments were performed with a classical source at room temperature, it supports both the quantum-mechanical properties of second-order correlations and that macroscopic superposition is obtainable in a target not in a single coherent state (mixed state). Future work will focus on generalizing the observations outside the current experimental design and creating embodiments that allow practical application of the phenomenon.

Spatial wave intensity correlations in quasi-one-dimensional wires

Spatial intensity correlations between waves transmitted through random media are analyzed within the framework of the random matrix theory of transport. Assuming that the statistical distribution of transfer matrices is isotropic, we found that the spatial correlation function can be expressed as the sum of three terms, with distinctive spatial dependences. This result coincides with the one obtained in the diffusive regime from perturbative calculations, but holds all the way from quasiballistic transport to localization. While correlations are positive in the diffusive regime, we predict a transition to negative correlations as the length of the system decreases.