dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaQuantum interference between two single photons emitted by independently trapped atoms
| Authors | Jerome Beugnon, Matthew Jones, Jos Dingjan, Benoit Darquié, Gaetan Messin, Antoine Browaeys, Philippe Grangier |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0610149 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0610149 |
| DOI | 10.1038/nature04628 |
| Journal | Nature 440 (06/04/2006) 779 |
Abstract
When two indistinguishable single photons are fed into the two input ports of a beam splitter, the photons will coalesce and leave together from the same output port. This is a quantum interference effect, which occurs because the two possible paths where the photons leave in different output ports interfere destructively. This effect was first observed in parametric downconversion by Hong, Ou and Mandel, and then with single photons produced one after the other by the same quantum emitter. With the recent development of quantum information, a lot of attention has been devoted to this coalescence effect as a resource for quantum data processing using linear optics techniques. To ensure the scalability of schemes based on these ideas, it is crucial that indistinguishable photons are emitted by a collection of synchronized, but otherwise independent sources. In this paper, we demonstrate the quantum interference of two single photons emitted by two independently trapped single atoms, bridging the gap towards the simultaneous emission of many indistinguishable single photons by different emitters. Our data analysis shows that the coalescence observed is mostly limited by the wavefront matching of the light emitted by the two atoms, and to a lesser extent by the motion of each atom in its own trap.
{
"annotation_id": "0957dbae-b24e-4971-ab4b-0d40b847f79c",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:02:30.853000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:02:30.853000Z",
"file_hash": "b134a18954a5fc007a38476d253075d0c68049d793c2629dfa54ac42e866fa18",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "When two indistinguishable single photons are fed into the two input ports of\na beam splitter, the photons will coalesce and leave together from the same\noutput port. This is a quantum interference effect, which occurs because the\ntwo possible paths where the photons leave in different output ports interfere\ndestructively. This effect was first observed in parametric downconversion by\nHong, Ou and Mandel, and then with single photons produced one after the other\nby the same quantum emitter. With the recent development of quantum\ninformation, a lot of attention has been devoted to this coalescence effect as\na resource for quantum data processing using linear optics techniques. To\nensure the scalability of schemes based on these ideas, it is crucial that\nindistinguishable photons are emitted by a collection of synchronized, but\notherwise independent sources. In this paper, we demonstrate the quantum\ninterference of two single photons emitted by two independently trapped single\natoms, bridging the gap towards the simultaneous emission of many\nindistinguishable single photons by different emitters. Our data analysis shows\nthat the coalescence observed is mostly limited by the wavefront matching of\nthe light emitted by the two atoms, and to a lesser extent by the motion of\neach atom in its own trap.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0610149",
"authors": [
"Jerome Beugnon",
"Matthew Jones",
"Jos Dingjan",
"Benoit Darqui\u00e9",
"Gaetan Messin",
"Antoine Browaeys",
"Philippe Grangier"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1038/nature04628",
"journal_ref": "Nature 440 (06/04/2006) 779",
"title": "Quantum interference between two single photons emitted by independently trapped atoms",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0610149"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "46d94ecf-ec74-47a4-a8b9-32ba952422d8",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}