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Stochastic optics: A reaffirmation of the wave nature of light

  • Part IV. Invited Papers Commemorating The Centenary Of The Birth Of Erwin Schrödinger
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Abstract

Quantum optics does not give a local explanation of the coincidence counts in spatially separated photodetectors. This is the case for a wide variety of phenomena, including the anticorrelated counting rates in the two channels of a beam splitter, the coincident counting rates of the two “photons” in an atomic cascade, and the “antibunching” observed in resonance fluorescence.

We propose a local realist theory that explains all of these data in a consistent manner. The theory uses a completely classical description of the electromagnetic field, but with boundary conditions of the far field that are equivalent to assuming a real fluctuating, zero-point field. It is related to stochastic electrodynamics similarly to the way classical optics is related to classical electromagnetic theory.

The quantitative aspects of the theory are developed sufficiently to show that there is agreement with all experiments performed till now.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Física Teórica, Universidad de Cantabria, 39005, Santander, Spain

    Trevor Marshall & Emilio Santos

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  1. Trevor Marshall
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  2. Emilio Santos
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Marshall, T., Santos, E. Stochastic optics: A reaffirmation of the wave nature of light. Found Phys 18, 185–223 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01882931

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01882931

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