Tunneling times of single photons

TL;DR

This paper investigates the tunneling times of single photons, introducing localized states that demonstrate causality and clarify the relationship between superluminal effects and information transfer.

Contribution

It introduces strictly localized optical states near single photons that uphold causality, addressing the superluminality paradox in photon tunneling.

Findings

Localized states can be arbitrarily close to single photons.

Causality is demonstrated for the leading edge of these states.

The study clarifies the limits of superluminal interpretations.

Abstract

Although the group delay of classical pulses through a barrier may suggest superluminality, the information transfer is limited by the precursor which propagates at the vacuum light speed. Single photons, however, have infinite tails, and the question of causality becomes meaningless. We solve this problem by introducing strictly localized states close to single photons, which are examples of optical states produced by on-demand single-photon sources. These states can be arbitrarily close to single photons while demonstrating causality for their leading edge.