The puzzle of genuine multiparticle interference
Sascha Agne, IQC
Two recent experiments demonstrate access to a new realm of quantum phenomena called genuine multiparticle interference. For three photons this means that interference between all three photons is observed while, simultaneously, neither pairs nor single photons display interference.
Our collaboration used entangled photon triplets in three independent interferometers to demonstrate the effect. At the same time, the group of Ian Walmsley in Oxford employed three independent photons that impinge on a six-port beam splitter with similar results to ours.
Taken together, the results seem puzzling. How can it be that three strongly correlated and three independent photons display the same interference effect?
In this talk, I will present the two experiments, discuss their prospects and attempt to answer the question posed above.