Interference of colliding Fock states and vacuum-generated photon pairs at time interfaces
Abstract
We investigate the scattering of counterpropagating photon Fock states at a time interface, induced by an abrupt variation of the dielectric permittivity of the host material. We unveil the role of vacuum-generated photons in determining the final photon number distribution and coherence properties. Such vacuum-generated photons interfere with the photons in the initial Fock states, producing distinctive interference patterns, which can be broadly controlled, together with the temperature of the final photon gas, by the time-interface parameters and the number of photons in the initial states.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect
Quantum optics and atomic interactions
Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical Review Research
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Publication date
- 11 February 2026
- Language
- EN