Interference between two independent multi-temporal-mode thermal fields

Abstract

We construct a general theoretical model for analyzing the intensity correlation of the field formed by mixing two independent multi-temporal-mode thermal fields. In the model, we use the intensity correlation function g(2) to characterize the mode property of the mixed thermal field. We find that g(2) of the mixed field is always less than that of the individual thermal field with less average mode number unless the two thermal fields are identical in mode property. The amount of drop in g(2) of the interference field depends on the relative overlap between the mode structures of two thermal fields and their relative strength. We successfully derive the analytical expressions of the upper bound and lower limit for g(2) of the interference field. Moreover, we verify the theoretical analysis by performing a series of experiments when the mode structures of two independent thermal fields are identical, orthogonal, and partially overlapped, respectively. The experimental results agree with theoretical predictions. Our investigation is useful for analyzing the signals carried by the intensity correlation of thermal fields.