Abstract

By analyzing the transient first-order interference of two independent thermal light beams in both classical and quantum theories, we conclude that for a certain kind of thermal light, it is impossible to observe the transient first-order interference pattern by superposing two independent thermal light beams even if the degeneracy parameter of thermal light is much greater than one. The result suggests that the well-accepted classical model of a thermal light field within the coherence time is not valid for all kinds of thermal light, which is important and helpful to understand the first-order interference of thermal light.

© 2016 Optical Society of America

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