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A number of recent interference experiments involving multiple photons are reviewed. These experiments include generalized photon bunching effects, generalized Hong-Ou-Mandel interference effects and multi-photon interferometry for demonstrations of multi-photon de Broglie wavelength. The multi-photon states used in these experiments are from two pairs of photons in parametric down-conversion. We find that the size of the interference effect in these experiments, characterized by the visibility of interference pattern, is governed by the degree of distinguishability among different pairs of photons. Based on this discovery, we generalize the concept of multi-photon temporal distinguishability and relate it to a number of multi-photon interference effects. Finally, we make an attempt to interpret the coherence theory by the multi-photon interference via the concept of temporal distinguishability of photons.
The complementary principle of quantum mechanics relates qualitatively the visibility of quantum interference with path indistinguishability. Here we propose a scheme of constructive quantum interference involving superposition between an $N$-photon
By using an asymmetric beam splitter, we observe the generalized Hong-Ou-Mandel effects for three and four photons, respectively. Furthermore, we can use this generalized Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer to characterize temporal distinguishability.
An experiment is performed to demonstrate the temporal distinguishability of a four-photon state and a six-photon state, both from parametric down-conversion. The experiment is based on a multi-photon interference scheme in a recent discovered NOON-s
Multi-photon interference is at the heart of the recently proposed linear optical quantum computing scheme and plays an essential role in many protocols in quantum information. Indistinguishability is what leads to the effect of quantum interference.
Stimulated emission of two photons is observed experimentally in the parametric amplification process and is compared to a three-photon interference scheme. We find that the underlying physics of stimulated emission is simply the constructive interfe