Quantum correlations and complementarity of vectorial light fields

Abstract

We explore quantum correlations of general vector-light fields in multislit interference and show that the $n$th-order field-coherence matrix is directly linked with the reduced $n$-photon density matrix. The connection is utilized to examine photon wave-particle duality in the double-slit configuration, revealing that there is a hidden information-theoretic contribution that complements the standard inequality associated with such duality by transforming it into a strict equality, a triality identity. We also establish a general quantum complementarity relation among the field correlations and the particle correlations which holds for any number of slits, correlation orders, and vector-light states. The framework that we advance hence uncovers fundamental physics about quantum interference.