Second-order interference with orthogonally polarized pseudothermal beams

Abstract

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.