Connecting field and intensity correlations: The Siegert relation and how to test it
Dilleys Ferreira, Romain Bachelard, William Guerin, Robin Kaiser, Mathilde Fouché
Abstract
The Siegert relation relates electric field and intensity correlations of light, under given assumptions. After a brief derivation of the relation, we present an experimental setup that can be implemented in a student laboratory: it allows measuring both field and intensity correlations at the same time, thus providing a direct test of the Siegert relation. Some experimental results are presented when the scattering medium corresponds to a cold atomic cloud. As a conclusion, we discuss typical situations where the relation fails.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsIntensity (physics)Field intensityRelation (database)Field (mathematics)Electric fieldComputational physicsScatteringQuantum electrodynamicsOpticsElectromagnetic fieldTest (biology)Classical mechanicsMagnetic fieldStatistical physicsMechanicsNear-Field Optical MicroscopyQuantum and Classical ElectrodynamicsQuantum optics and atomic interactions