The complementary principle of quantum mechanics relates qualitatively the visibility of quantum interference with path indistinguishability. Here we propose a scheme of constructive quantum interference involving superposition between an N-photon state and a single-photon state to characterize quantitatively the degree of temporal distinguishability of the N-photon state. This scheme is based on a generalized photon bunching effect. Such a scheme can be extended to other more general cases.
@article{arxiv.0708.2723,
title = {Characterizing Temporal Distinguishability of an N-Photon State by Generalized Photon Bunching Effect with Multi-Photon Interference},
author = {Z. Y. Ou},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0708.2723},
year = {2009}
}