Spatial interference between pairs of disjoint optical paths with a single chaotic source

Abstract

We demonstrate a novel second-order spatial interference effect between two indistinguishable pairs of disjoint optical paths from a single chaotic source. Beside providing a deeper understanding of the physics of multi-photon interference and coherence, the effect enables retrieving information on both the spatial structure and the relative position of two distant double-pinhole masks, in the absence of first order coherence. We also demonstrate the exploitation of the phenomenon for simulating quantum logic gates, including a controlled-NOT gate operation.

15 pages, 3 figures