Observer dependence of photon bunching: The influence of the relativistic redshift on Hong-Ou-Mandel interference

TL;DR

This paper investigates how relativistic redshift affects Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, revealing that observer-dependent spectral symmetry can alter photon bunching behavior, thus providing a quantum test of general relativity.

Contribution

It extends quantum coherence theory to include relativistic effects on multi-photon states, demonstrating observer-dependent changes in photon interference patterns.

Findings

Redshift can switch photon bunching to anti-bunching.

Spectral wave function symmetry is observer dependent.

HOM interference can test relativistic effects on quantum states.

Abstract

We study the influence of the relativistic redshift on Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference, and present a genuine quantum test of general relativity. We use Glauber's theory of quantum coherence to predict the coincidence probability of realistic broadband photons in HOM-experiments in a non-relativistic setting. We extend the quantum field theoretical framework previously developed to describe the deformation of the spectral profile of single photons in curved spacetimes to a multi-photon framework, which is exact for inertial observers in a flat spacetime and an approximation when observers are located in a curved spacetime. We find that, in case of frequency entangled photons, a mutual redshift between the sender and the receiver can change the coincidence statistics from photon bunching to photon anti-bunching, and vice versa. This implies that the (anti-) symmetry of the photonic spectral wave function is an observer dependent notion, and that this can be probed via HOM-experiments in a relativistic setting.