Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen state for space-time variables in a two-photon interference experiment

Abstract

A pair of correlated photons generated from parametric down-conversion was sent to two independent Michelson interferometers. Second-order interference was studied by means of a coincidence measurement between the outputs of two interferometers. The reported experiment and analysis studied this second-order interference phenomenon from the point of view of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox. The experiment was done in two steps. The first step of the experiment used 50-psec and 3-nsec coincidence time windows simultaneously. The 50-psec window was able to distinguish a 1.5-cm optical path difference in the interferometers. The interference visibility was measured to be 38% and 21% for the 50-psec time window and 22% and 7% for the 3-nsec time window, when the optical path differences of the interferometers were 2 cm and 4 cm, respectively. By comparing the visibilities between these two windows, the experiment showed the nonclassical effect which resulted from an EPR state. The second step of the experiment used a 20-psec coincidence time window, which was able to distinguish a 6-mm optical path difference in the interferometers. The interference visibilities were measured to be 59% for an optical path difference of 7 mm. This is an observation of visibility greater than 50% for a two-interferometer EPR experiment which demonstrates nonclassical correlation of space-time variables.