Eavesdropping time and frequency: phase noise cancellation along a time-varying path, such as an optical fiber

Single-mode optical fiber is a highly efficient connecting medium used not only for optical telecommunications but also for the dissemination of ultrastable frequencies or timing signals. Ma et al. [Opt. Lett.19, 1777 (1994)] described a measurement and control system to deliver the same optical frequency at two places, namely the two ends of a fiber, by eliminating the "fiber-induced phase-noise modulation, which corrupts high-precision frequency-based applications." I present a simple detection and control scheme to deliver the same optical frequency at many places anywhere along a transmission path, or in its vicinity, with a relative instability of 1 part in 10(19). The same idea applies to radio frequency and timing signals. This considerably simplifies future efforts to make precise timing or frequency signals available to many users, as required in some large-scale science experiments.