Quantum-like nonseparable structures in optical beams
Quantum-like nonseparable structures in optical beams
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DOI：
10.1088/1367-2630/17/4/043024
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发表时间：
2015-04-15
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Leuchs, Gerd
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Aiello, Andrea;Toeppel, Falk;Leuchs, Gerd
当物理系统中的两个或更多个自由度耦合时，后者的许多可观测量无法用相对于不同自由度可分离的数学表达式来表示。最近几年，人们发现这些表达式可能显示出与量子力学中多方纠缠态相同的数学结构。在这项工作中，我们研究了这种结构在光束中的发生，这种现象通常被称为“经典纠缠”。我们提出了一个统一的理论，不同种类的光束表现出经典纠缠，我们指出了几种可能的扩展的概念。我们的研究结果澄清和揭示了经典光学这一有趣方面的物理基础。
When two or more degrees of freedom become coupled in a physical system, a number of observables of the latter cannot be represented by mathematical expressions separable with respect to the different degrees of freedom. In recent years it appeared clear that these expressions may display the same mathematical structures exhibited by multiparty entangled states in quantum mechanics. In this work, we investigate the occurrence of such structures in optical beams, a phenomenon that is often referred to as 'classical entanglement'. We present a unified theory for different kinds of light beams exhibiting classical entanglement and we indicate several possible extensions of the concept. Our results clarify and shed new light upon the physics underlying this intriguing aspect of classical optics.