Detection of quantum-vacuum field correlations outside the light cone

Abstract: According to quantum field theory, empty space -- the ground state of the theory with all real excitations removed -- is not empty at all, but filled with quantum-vacuum fluctuations. Their presence can manifest itself through a series of phenomena such as the Casimir force, spontaneous emission, or dispersion forces. These fluctuating fields possess correlations between space-time points outside the light cone, i.e. between points which are causally disconnected according to special relativity. A counterintuitive consequence is that two initially uncorrelated quantum objects in empty space (the quantum vacuum) which are located in causally disconnected space-time regions, and therefore unable to exchange information, can become correlated. Using electro-optic sampling, we have experimentally demonstrated the existence of correlations of the vacuum fields for non-causally connected space-time points. This result is obtained by detecting and analyzing vacuum-induced correlations between two 195 fs laser pulses separated by a time of flight of 470 fs which propagate through a nonlinear crystal. Our theory reveals the vast majority of the correlations as stemming from space-time points outside the light cone. This work marks a first step in analyzing the space-time structure of vacuum correlations in quantum field theory.