Experimental distinction between the quantum and classical field-theoretic predictions for the photoelectric effect

Abstract

We have measured various coincidence rates between four photomultiplier tubes viewing cascade photons on opposite sides of dielectric beam splitters. This experimental configuration, we show, is sensitive to differences between the classical and quantum field-theoretic predictions for the photoelectric effect. The results, to a high degree of statistical accuracy, contradict the predictions by any classical or semiclassical theory in which the probability of photoemission is proportional to the classical intensity.