Stellar intensity interferometry in the photon-counting regime

William Guerin; Mathilde Hugbart; Sarah Tolila; Nolan Matthews; Olivier Lai; Jean-Pierre Rivet; Guillaume Labeyrie; Robin Kaiser

doi:10.5802/crphys.259

Article de recherche

Stellar intensity interferometry in the photon-counting regime
[Interférométrie d’intensité stellaire en comptage de photons]

William Guerin ¹ ; Mathilde Hugbart ¹ ; Sarah Tolila ¹ ; Nolan Matthews ^1,² ; Olivier Lai ³ ; Jean-Pierre Rivet ³ ; Guillaume Labeyrie ¹ ; Robin Kaiser ¹

¹ Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Physique de Nice, France
² Space Dynamics Laboratory, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84341, USA
³ Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, France

Comptes Rendus. Physique, Volume 26 (2025), pp. 659-679

Cet article fait partie du numéro thématique Mesures quantiques coordonné par David Clément et al..

Abstract (VO)
Résumé

Stellar intensity interferometry consists in measuring the correlation of the light intensity fluctuations at two telescopes observing the same star. The amplitude of the correlation is directly related to the luminosity distribution of the star, which would be unresolved by a single telescope. This technique is based on the well-known Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect. After its discovery in the 1950s, it was used in astronomy until the 1970s, and then replaced by direct (“amplitude”) interferometry, which is much more sensitive, but also much more demanding. However, in recent years, intensity interferometry has undergone a revival. In this article, we present a summary of the state of the art, and we discuss in detail the signal-to-noise ratio of intensity interferometry in the framework of photon-counting detection.

L’interférométrie d’intensité stellaire consiste à mesurer la corrélation entre les fluctuations d’intensité de la lumière captée par deux télescopes observant la même étoile. L’amplitude de la corrélation est directement liée à la taille de l’étoile, qui ne serait pas résolue par un seul télescope. Cette technique est basée sur le célèbre effet Hanbury Brown et Twiss. Après sa découverte dans les années 1950, elle a été utilisée en astronomie jusque dans les années 1970, puis remplacée par l’interférométrie directe (ou d’amplitude), qui est beaucoup plus sensible, mais aussi beaucoup plus exigeante techniquement. Cependant, depuis quelques années, l’interférométrie d’intensité connaît un renouveau. Dans cet article, nous présentons un résumé de l’état de l’art et nous discutons en détail du rapport signal à bruit de l’interférométrie d’intensité dans le cadre de détecteurs en comptage de photons.

Reçu le : 2025-03-28
Révisé le : 2025-08-08
Accepté le : 2025-08-28
Publié le : 2025-10-23

DOI : 10.5802/crphys.259

Keywords: Stellar interferometry, Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect, single-photon detectors
Mots-clés : Interférométrie stellaire, effet Hanbury Brown et Twiss, détecteurs de photons uniques

Affiliations des auteurs :

William Guerin ¹ ; Mathilde Hugbart ¹ ; Sarah Tolila ¹ ; Nolan Matthews ^{1, 2} ; Olivier Lai ³ ; Jean-Pierre Rivet ³ ; Guillaume Labeyrie ¹ ; Robin Kaiser ¹

¹ Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Physique de Nice, France
² Space Dynamics Laboratory, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84341, USA
³ Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, France

Licence :

CC-BY 4.0

Droits d'auteur : Les auteurs conservent leurs droits

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     title = {Stellar intensity interferometry in the photon-counting regime},
     journal = {Comptes Rendus. Physique},
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     year = {2025},
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William Guerin; Mathilde Hugbart; Sarah Tolila; Nolan Matthews; Olivier Lai; Jean-Pierre Rivet; Guillaume Labeyrie; Robin Kaiser. Stellar intensity interferometry in the photon-counting regime. Comptes Rendus. Physique, Volume 26 (2025), pp. 659-679. doi: 10.5802/crphys.259

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