6Second-Order Coherence of Light
The first-order coherence (correlation) function Γ(r1,t1;r2,t2) and the degree of first-order coherence γ(r1,t1;r2,t2) are not directly measured at space-time points (r1,t1) and (r2,t2). A photodetection event can never happen at two different space-time coordinates. As we have learned in Section 5.1, the fields E(r1,t1) and E(r2,t2) at (r1,t1) and (r2,t2) are superposed at space point r and measured at a later time t, t = t1 + s1/c = t2 + s2/c, by a photodetector. The second-order coherence (correlation) function Γ(2)(r1,t1;r2,t2) and the normalized degree of second-order coherence γ(2)(r1,t1;r2,t2), however, are measured by two photodetectors at space-time points (r1,t1) and (r2,t2) directly. Figure 6.1 is ...
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