Abstract. Two-photon anti-bunching at a beamsplitter is only possible if the photons are entangled in a specific state, anti-symmetric in the spatial modes. Thus, observation of anti-bunching is an indication of entanglement in a degree of freedom, which might not be easily accessible in an experiment. We experimentally demonstrate this concept in the case of the interference of two frequency-entangled photons with continuous frequency detunings. The principle of anti-symmetrization of the spatial part of a wavefunction and subsequent detection of hidden entanglement via anti-bunching at a beamsplitter may facilitate the observation of entanglement in other systems, like atomic ensembles or Bose–Einstein condensates. The analogue for fermionic systems would be to observe bunching.

Received 17 July 2009
Published 27 October 2009