Photostatistics of anN-mode laser field

Abstract

The statistical properties of an electromagnetic field obtained by the superposition ofN ideal modes are theoretically investigated. The second order moment of photostatistics containsN(N−1)/2 non-poissonian terms each one oscillating with the frequency difference between the frequencies of two modes. A simple formalism allows to establish under which conditions photostatistics tends to a Bose-Einstein form, whenN→ ∞. The main differences between this field and a gaussian one are also investigated.