We study the number of coincidences in a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer exit whose arms have been supplemented with the addition of one or two optical cavities. The fourth-order correlation function at the beam-splitter exit is calculated. In the regime where the cavity length are larger than the one-photon coherence length, photon coalescence and anti-coalescence interference is observed. Feynman's path diagrams for the indistinguishable processes that lead to quantum interference are presented. As application for the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer with two cavities, it is discussed the construction of an optical XOR gate.
We experimentally investigate interference pattern formation in second-order intensity correlation considering the polarization state of pseudothermal light beams. By placing a double slit in one of the beams it is shown that the interference pattern depends on the polarization state of the light after the slits. When different parts of the double slit are aligned in different beams, we found that the interference is always observed, even for the case where the beams are orthogonally polarized. Our results are analyzed using a filtering process and indistinguishability of paths interpretation. Extensions of our findings to massive particles are also discussed.
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