We demonstrate a previously unknown two-photon effect in a discrete-time quantum walk. Two identical bosons with no mutual interactions nonetheless can remain clustered together as they walk on a lattice of directionally-reversible optical four-ports acting as Grover coins; both photons move in the same direction at each step due to a two-photon quantum interference phenomenon reminiscent of the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect. The clustered two-photon amplitude splits into two localized parts, one oscillating near the initial point, and the other moving ballistically without spatial spread, in soliton-like fashion. But the two photons are always clustered in the same part of the superposition, leading to potential applications for transport of entanglement and opportunities for novel two-photon interferometry experiments.
@article{arxiv.2003.05901,
title = {Quantum-Clustered Two-Photon Walks},
author = {David S. Simon and Shuto Osawa and Alexander V. Sergienko},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2003.05901},
year = {2020}
}