Nonorthogonal object identification based on ghost imaging

Ghost imaging could be used to make a quick identification of orthogonal objects by means of photocurrent correlation measurements. In this paper, we extend the method to identify nonorthogonal objects. In the method, an object is illuminated by one photon from an entangled pair, and the other one is diffracted into a particular direction by a pre-established multiple-exposure hologram in the idler arm. By the correlation measurements, the nonorthogonal object in the signal arm could be discriminated within a very short time. The constraints for the identification of nonorthogonal objects are presented, which show that the nonorthogonal objects can be discriminated when the overlapping portion between any two objects is less than half of all the objects in the set. The numerical simulations further verify the result. (C) 2015 Chinese Laser Press