Photon statistics
![Schematic of the homodyne intensity correlation scheme described in [6]. SI, signal field, LO, local oscillator, BS, beam splitter, SL, superimposed light, C, correlator. The photodetectors (black elements) send electrical signals to the correlator where the intensity correlation is measured.](/uploads/202502/02/Homodyne_Intensity_Correlation_Setup1849.jpg)
Photon statistics is the theoretical and experimental study of the statistical distributions produced in photon counting experiments, which use Photodetectors to analyze the intrinsic statistical nature of photons in a light source. In these experiments, light incident on the photodetector generates photoelectrons and a counter registers electrical pulses generating a statistical distribution of photon counts. Low intensity disparate light sources can be differentiated by the corresponding statistical distributions produced in the detection process.