Abstract
We show that the divergence between the predictions of quantum optics and the local realist theory known as stochastic optics, for the extended type of photon-coincidence experiment described recently by de Caro, is of the same order of magnitude as for Aspect-type experiments. This means that, in such new experiments, as in those so far performed, counting statistics will have to be greatly improved before a discrimination between the two theories becomes possible.
We also show that the outstanding difference between the two theories is that, while stochastic optics uses a genuine, that is, positive, detection probability, the corresponding quantum formalism leads to a pseudoprobability. Nevertheless, there is a striking parallel, in that both theories recognize the phenomenon known as enhancement, and both describe it as having its origin in a mixing of the signal field with the zero-point field by a polarizing device.
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Ferrero, M., Marshall, T.W. The compatibility between quantum mechanics and local realist theories in atomic cascade experiments. Found Phys 21, 403–415 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00733355
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00733355