X-shaped space-time coherence in optical parametric generation

We study the spatiotemporal coherence properties of superfluorescence radiation generated in optical parametric amplification of quantum noise. We show that the angular dispersion properties of the spatiotemporal spectra, measured in different phase-matching conditions, lead to a clear X-shaped structure of the mutual correlation function of the radiation. Within a statistical picture, we interpret the generated superfluorescence as a stochastic “gas” of quasistationary modes characterized by a skewed correlation in the spatiotemporal domain, with characteristics similar to linear and nonlinear X waves not describable within a separable approach in space and time.