Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 28, 2026

A Photonic System for Generating Unconditional Polarization-Entangled Photons Based on Multiple Quantum Interference
Published on: September 5, 2019
Quantum correlations in separable multi-mode states and in classically entangled light
N Korolkova1, G Leuchs2,3
1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9SS, Scotland.
None:
In this review we discuss intriguing properties of apparently classical optical fields, that go beyond purely classical context and allow us to speak about quantum characteristics of such fields and about their applications in quantum technologies. We briefly define the genuinely quantum concepts of entanglement and steering. We then move to the boarder line between classical and quantum world introducing quantum discord, a more general concept of quantum coherence, and finally a controversial notion of classical entanglement. To unveil the quantum aspects of often classically perceived systems, we focus more in detail on quantum discordant correlations between the light modes and on nonseparability properties of optical vector fields leading to entanglement between different degrees of freedom of a single beam. To illustrate the aptitude of different types of correlated systems to act as quantum or quantum-like resource, entanglement activation from discord, high-precision measurements with classical entanglement and quantum information tasks using intra-system correlations are discussed. The common themes behind the versatile quantum properties of seemingly classical light are coherence, polarization and inter and intra-mode quantum correlations.
Related Concept Videos
Quantum Numbers
2D NMR: Heteronuclear Single-Quantum Correlation Spectroscopy (HSQC)
Correlations
The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov observed that dogs...
Correlation and Causation
Correlation versus Causation
If the dependent variable increases or decreases when the independent variable increases, there is a positive or negative...

