Anti-symmetrization reveals hidden entanglement

Author(s)
Alessandro Fedrizzi, Thomas Herbst, Markus Aspelmeyer, Marco Barbieri, Thomas Jennewein, Anton Zeilinger
Abstract

Two-photon anti-bunching at a beamsplitter is only possible if the photons are entangled in a specific state, anti-symmetric in the spatial modes. Thus, observation of anti-bunching is an indication of entanglement in a degree of freedom, which might not be easily accessible in an experiment. We experimentally demonstrate this concept in the case of the interference of two frequency-entangled photons with continuous frequency detunings. The principle of anti-symmetrization of the spatial part of a wavefunction and subsequent detection of hidden entanglement via anti-bunching at a beamsplitter may facilitate the observation of entanglement in other systems, like atomic ensembles or Bose–Einstein condensates. The analogue for fermionic systems would be to observe bunching.

Organisation(s)
Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information
External organisation(s)
Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW), University of Queensland
Journal
New Journal of Physics
Volume
11
No. of pages
9
ISSN
1367-2630
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/11/10/103052
Publication date
2009
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103026 Quantum optics
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/de7bb111-fbe8-40d3-9d78-88f67b844209