Abstract

I briefly review second order or two-photon correlations starting from the Hanbury Brown-Twiss correlations to its modern versions in quantum optics studies. With this background, I address some foundational issues in the physics of quantum correlations and quantum entanglement and argue in favour of the validity of Einstein locality, to settle a long-standing debate. Understanding entanglement from this perspective has applications in quantum information theory, especially in gaining intuition about the relation between different measures of entanglement and its time evolution. Some examples are highlighted. I discuss how ideas on photon correlations applied to squeezing fluctuations in coherent light have become important in metrology, and perhaps crucial, in the successful operation of high sensitivity gravitational wave detectors.

© 2012 Optical Society of America