Photon pair antibunching and second-order correlations between pair events

Abstract

We introduce the pair second-order correlation function $g_{\textrm{pairs}}^{\left(2\right)}=\left\langle \left(P^{\dagger}\right)^{2}P^{2}\right\rangle /\left\langle P^{\dagger}P\right\rangle ^{2}$, defined through the pair operator $P^{\dagger}=a^{\dagger}b^{\dagger}$, to characterize second-order correlations and pair bunching and antibunching in photon-pair creation processes. This quantity directly probes correlations between pair-generation events within a single two-mode quantum state, providing access to the intrinsic pair-generation process beyond conventional single-mode or heralded second-order correlations, which do not directly capture correlations between pair events. Values of $g_{\textrm{pairs}}^{\left(2\right)}$ greater than, equal to, or less than unity correspond respectively to pair bunching, Poissonian pair statistics, and pair antibunching. Using the Cauchy--Schwarz inequality, we further show that all classical two-mode fields described by a positive Glauber--Sudarshan \ensuremath{P}-function satisfy $g_{\textrm{pairs}}^{\left(2\right)}\geq1$, so that pair antibunching is classically forbidden and constitutes an unambiguous signature of nonclassicality. We evaluate $g_{\textrm{pairs}}^{\left(2\right)}$ for several representative quantum states and show, in particular, that even arbitrarily weak two-mode squeezed vacuum states exhibit pair bunching. Comparison with heralded second-order correlations highlights the complementary information provided by these observables. The proposed correlation function is experimentally accessible via standard coincidence measurements, requires no phase reference or state reconstruction, and remains invariant under uniform loss.