Astronomical applications of quantum optics for extremely large telescopes

Abstract

A programme has been started to investigate photon properties that are not currently exploited in astronomical instruments, namely second- and higher-order coherence functions encoded in their arrival time, and the orbital angular momentum. This paper expounds the first results achieved in the study of a novel astronomical photometer capable of pushing time tagging towards the picosecond region. This conceptual device has been developed as a possible focal plane instrument for the future OverWhelmingly Large Telescope (OWL) of the European Southern Observatory. This instrument has been named QuantEYE, that is, the Quantum Eye of OWL.