Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators
Published on: May 30, 2014
Analogies between classical scalar wave fields in any state of spatial coherence and some quantum states of light
Román Castañeda1, Gustavo Cañas, Herbert Vinck-Posada
1Physics School, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, Medellín, Colombia. rcastane@unal.edu.co
Abstract:
The border between the descriptions of the classical optical fields in any state of spatial coherence and the quantum coherence state of light is revisited in the framework of the phase-space representation. Although it is established that such descriptions are not completely equivalent, the exact calculation of the marginal power spectrum leads to new analogies that suggest that some features exclusively attributed to quantum states of light can be also shared by classical optical fields due to their spatial coherence state.
Related Concept Videos
The Wave Nature of Light
The de Broglie Wavelength
Propagation of Waves
Consider a scenario where a wave propagates from a string of low linear mass density to a string of high linear mass density. In such a case, the reflected wave is out of phase with respect to the incident wave, however the...
Standing Waves in a Cavity
Electromagnetic Wave Equation
However, although electric and magnetic fields were first introduced as mathematical constructs to simplify the description of mutual forces between charges, a natural question emerges from Maxwell's equations: What...
Interference and Diffraction

