Optimum Processing of a Quantum Field in Two-Element Interferometers

The author discusses the synthesis of an optimum interferometer measuring fields and their intensities. A likelihood equation is derived for the intensity spatial correlation coefficient $\gamma_u$ with regard for the quantum structure of the field in the classical approximation. The effectiveness of the estimate $\widetilde\gamma_u$ in a Brown?Twiss interferometer is analyzed in comparison with the maximum likelihood estimate $\hat\gamma_u$. It is shown that the estimate formed in a Mochelson interferometer for the field spatial correlation coefficient $\gamma_n$ is optimum in the case of a centrosymmetric object.