Measurements of Photon Correlations in Partially Coherent Light

Abstract

Measurements have been made of the distribution in time of arrival of photons produced in a low-pressure ${\mathrm{Hg}}^{198}$ discharge. Sufficient calibration was done so that the measurements could be directly compared with the predictions of a calculation of $G^{\mathrm{}\left(2\right)\mathrm{}}(x_1,x_2,x_2,x_1)$, the second-order coherence function. Correlations were observed in a mixture of light from two independent sources and between orthogonally polarized components of a beam initially in a pure polarization state.