English

Photon Statistics for Fock and Coherent States Interfering in a Beamsplitter

Quantum Physics 2026-01-13 v2

Abstract

We present a straightforward yet comprehensive theoretical study of different quantum states emerging from a bi-modal beamsplitter when various input states interfere. Specifically, we analyze the output states for different combinations of input fields, including Fock states nm|n\rangle|m\rangle, hybrid states nα|n\rangle|\alpha\rangle, and coherent states αβ|\alpha\rangle|\beta\rangle. We derive explicit expressions for the output state vectors, calculate the mean photon number, photon number variance, Mandel Q parameter, and secondorder coherence function to characterize the statistical properties of the output fields. Our results are intended as a pedagogical resource, serving as an introductory reference for students and researchers aiming to understand basic photon statistics using beamsplitters.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2508.08223,
  title  = {Photon Statistics for Fock and Coherent States Interfering in a Beamsplitter},
  author = {Jhordan A. T. Santiago},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.08223},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

8 pages, 5 figures