Simulations show quantum light thermalizing alongside classical light in multimode nonlinear optics

Numerical experiments show single- and two-photon states thermalizing in multimode nonlinear optical systems, with Rayleigh-Jeans and Boltzmann distributions emerging.

A study in Science Advances reports numerical experiments in which nonlinear multimode optical systems induce effective quantum interactions between photons science.org. The simulations covered single-photon and two-photon states propagating alongside classical light in such systems.

According to the authors, these quantum states thermalize. The thermalization shows up as the emergence of Rayleigh-Jeans and Boltzmann statistical distributions.

The authors state that the approach helps in studying how classical nonlinearities can be used to investigate quantum many-body dynamics. They also say it allows exploring a broader range of complex quantum phenomena, including aspects of quantum phase transitions, in accessible classical optical settings. The results are numerical; no laboratory demonstration is described.