Many-particle interference in a two-component bosonic Josephson junction: an all-optical simulation

We conceive an all-optical representation of the dynamics of two distinct types of interacting bosons in a double well by an array of evanescently coupled photonic waveguides. Many-particle interference effects are probed for various interaction strengths by changing the relative abundance of the particle species and can be readily identified by monitoring the propagation of the light intensity across the waveguide array. In particular, we show that finite inter-particle interaction strengths reduce the many-particle interference contrast by dephasing. A general description of the many-particle dynamics for arbitrary initial states is given in terms of two coupled spins by generalising the Schwinger representation to two particle species. (paper)