Correlated imaging, quantum and classical

The production of classically correlated beams suitable for coherent imaging was investigated using classical correlation of two beams obtained by splitting coherent thermal radiation. A formal analogy was also demonstrated between two classically correlated beams and two entangled beams produced by parametric down-conversion (PDC). It was observed that classical beams were spatially correlated in near field and in far field. The performance of a quasithermal and parametric down-conversion source were found to be similar using numerical simulations.