Controlling quantum correlations in optical-angle–orbital-angular-momentum variables

Abstract

The entanglement of optical angular position and orbital angular momentum has become one of the important degrees of freedom for quantum information science. Quantum control of the two conjugate variables may provide a gate to control the production of the entanglement. Here, we theoretically and experimentally show that by controlling the transverse spatial coherence of the pump beam, one can modulate the strength of the quantum correlations between the angular position and orbital angular momentum in down-converted photon pairs. By determining the relation of the Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen correlations with the transverse spatial coherence of the pump, the boundary of the entanglement can be determined. Our work shows that the transverse spatial coherence of the pump can act as a switch to control the production of quantum entanglement both for discrete and continuous conjugate variables and may provide another platform for the quantum control research field.