Generation of N00N-like interferences with two thermal light sources

Abstract

Measuring the $M$th-order intensity correlation function of light emitted by two statistically independent thermal light sources may display N00N-like interferences of arbitrary order $N=M/2$. We show that via a particular choice of detector positions one can isolate $M$-photon quantum paths where either all $M$ photons are emitted from the same source or $M/2$ photons are collectively emitted by both sources. The latter superposition displays N00N-like oscillations with $N=M/2$ which may serve, e.g., in astronomy, for imaging two distant thermal sources with $M/2$-fold increased resolution. We also discuss slightly modified detection schemes improving the visibility of the N00N-like interference pattern and present measurements verifying the theoretical predictions.

9 pages, 6 figures