Nonclassical light from a large number of independent single-photon emitters

TL;DR

This paper develops criteria to detect nonclassical light from large ensembles of independent single-photon emitters, demonstrating that such systems can reliably produce and reveal nonclassical effects even amidst noise and without phase references.

Contribution

It introduces a hierarchy of operational criteria for identifying nonclassicality in large, independent emitter ensembles, expanding the understanding of quantum effects in macroscopic systems.

Findings

Large ensembles can emit nonclassical light without phase references.

Nonclassicality detection is more effective in large ensembles than in few-emitter systems.

Nonclassical light persists under realistic noise conditions.

Abstract

Nonclassical quantum effects gradually reach domains of physics of large systems previously considered as purely classical. We derive a hierarchy of operational criteria suitable for a reliable detection of nonclassicality of light from an arbitrarily large ensemble of independent single-photon emitters. We show, that such large ensemble can always emit nonclassical light without any phase reference and under realistic experimental conditions including incoherent background noise. The nonclassical light from the large ensemble of the emitters can be witnessed much better than light coming from a single or a few emitters.