Revealing Hidden Coherence in Partially Coherent Light.

Area of Science:

• Quantum Information Science
• Quantum Optics
• Quantum Foundations

Background:

• Coherence and correlations are fundamental properties of quantum systems.
• These properties are crucial in understanding quantum states, such as entangled photons and coherent beams.
• Local transformations preserve coherence, while global transformations can modify it.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the optimal measure for quantifying correlations convertible into coherence.
• To determine the maximum amount of coherence that can be extracted from these correlations.
• To elucidate the general principle of enhancing coherence by manipulating correlations.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of unitary transformations on compound quantum systems.
• Development of a quantitative measure for correlations transformable into coherence.
• Application of the developed measure to model systems like entangled photons and coherent beams.

Main Results:

• A definitive measure for correlations that can be converted into coherence has been established.
• The maximum extractable coherence from a given set of correlations is quantified.
• Demonstrated how global unitary transformations effectively convert correlations into coherence.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a framework for understanding and quantifying coherence enhancement through correlation manipulation.
• The findings offer insights into the interplay between coherence and correlations in quantum systems.
• This work illuminates a general strategy for boosting quantum coherence by leveraging system correlations.