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Science 22 October 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5696, pp. 660 - 662
DOI: 10.1126/science.1103190
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Reports

Quantum-to-Classical Transition with Single-Photon-Added Coherent States of Light

Alessandro Zavatta, Silvia Viciani, Marco Bellini*

Single-photon–added coherent states are the result of the most elementary amplification process of classical light fields by a single quantum of excitation. Being intermediate between a single-photon Fock state (fully quantum-mechanical) and a coherent (classical) one, these states offer the opportunity to closely follow the smooth transition between the particle-like and the wavelike behavior of light. We report the experimental generation of single-photon–added coherent states and their complete characterization by quantum tomography. Besides visualizing the evolution of the quantum-to-classical transition, these states allow one to witness the gradual change from the spontaneous to the stimulated regimes of light emission.

Istituto Nazionale di Ottica Applicata, Largo Enrico Fermi, 6, I-50125, Florence, Italy; European Laboratory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy (LENS) and Department of Physics, University of Florence, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bellini{at}ino.it

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Probing Quantum Commutation Rules by Addition and Subtraction of Single Photons to/from a Light Field.
V. Parigi, A. Zavatta, M. Kim, and M. Bellini (2007)
Science 317, 1890-1893
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