From Bose-Einstein statistics to photon statistics: the statistical style of scientific reasoning in the genesis of quantum optics.

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:25100068,
            doi = {10.48660/25100068},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/25100068},
            author = {},
            keywords = {Quantum Foundations},
            language = {en},
            title = {From Bose-Einstein statistics to photon statistics: the statistical style of scientific reasoning in the genesis of quantum optics.},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2025},
            month = {oct},
            note = {PIRSA:25100068 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
          

Abstract

My research investigates the role of Bose-Einstein statistics in the genesis of quantum optics. It explores key developments following the emergence of quantum statistics in the late 1920s, which eventually led to the classification of elementary entities as bosons and fermions in 1945. Additionally, it examines whether the concept of an evolving statistical style of reasoning in physics provides a useful analytical framework for understanding the debate on the Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT) effect, the early investigations of photon correlations in the late 1950s, and the emergence of photon statistics in the early 1960s.