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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2025

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators

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Published on: May 30, 2014

The quantum Gaussian-Schell model: a link between classical and quantum optics.

Riley B Dawkins, Mingyuan Hong, Chenglong You

|August 2, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Scientists have extracted multiphoton quantum systems from partially coherent light, a common classical light form. This breakthrough bridges classical and quantum optics by revealing the quantum nature of everyday light.

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Area of Science:

Quantum Optics
Classical Optics
Electromagnetic Field Theory

Background:

Classical light, particularly partially coherent light, is understood as superpositions of nonclassical multiphoton wave packets.
Bridging classical and quantum descriptions of light remains a significant challenge in physics.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate the extraction of constituent multiphoton quantum systems from partially coherent light.
To establish a fundamental connection between classical and quantum optics.

Main Methods:

Developed a quantum representation of partially coherent light using complex-Gaussian statistics.
Formulated the quantum Gaussian-Schell model (GSM).
Employed photon-number-resolving (PNR) detection techniques.

Main Results:

Successfully extracted constituent multiphoton quantum systems from partially coherent light.
Experimentally verified coherence properties of isolated vacuum and multiphoton systems (up to 16 photons).
Demonstrated the quantum nature of classical macroscopic light objects.

Conclusions:

The quantum Gaussian-Schell model enables the isolation of quantum multiphoton wave packets within classical light.
This work provides experimental evidence for observing quantum properties in classical light.
Established a foundational link between classical and quantum optics.