Abstract

The invention of the two-photon Clauser interferometer opened a completely new domain of photon spectroscopy. It allowed direct experimental demonstration for the first time of non-local nonrealist phenomena in physics. We will describe this interferometer and analyse its application to the detection of bi-photons, and discuss other phenomena at the interface between classical and quantum physics. One of the consequences is that relaxation is not always what we were taught. Recent experiments on photons [1] and atoms [2] demonstrate the difference between local, singleparticle dynamics and non-local dynamics of entangled quantum systems coupled to independent environments. Even when local environment-induced decay of a system is smoothly asymptotic, quantum entanglement may suddenly disappear. This “sudden death” constitutes yet another distinct and counterintuitive trait of entanglement, confirming earlier predictions [3,4].

© 2007 Optical Society of America