Publication appeared in Physical Review X

27.10.2015

Our work on generalized multiphoton quantum interference appeared in Physical Review X.

Nonclassical interference of photons lies at the heart of optical quantum information processing. Here,
we exploit tunable distinguishability to reveal the full spectrum of multiphoton nonclassical interference.
We investigate this in theory and experiment by controlling the delay times of three photons injected into an integrated interferometric network. We derive the entire coincidence landscape and identify transition
matrix immanants as ideally suited functions to describe the generalized case of input photons with
arbitrary distinguishability. We introduce a compact description by utilizing a natural basis that decouples
the input state from the interferometric network, thereby providing a useful tool for even larger photon
numbers.

The coincidence landscape and its substructure. (a) Coincidence landscape which is the visual representation of the

nonclassical interference of three photons of tunable distinguishability. The height of the landscape corresponds to the coincidence output probability of a three-photon scattering event. The substructure, expressed in terms of contributions from the permanent "per", the determinant "det", and immanants "imm", reveals the nature of the scattering event. Beside the plateaux (color coded in red), which can be explained classically, the whole landscape is governed by a genuine quantum interference of the photons.