Classical Ghost Imaging with Unknowing Pseudo-Thermal Light

Classical ghost imaging (CGI), an extension of quantum ghost imaging (QGI), enables object reconstruction by leveraging the spatial correlation between a pair of beams. Traditionally, CGI requires a camera or point scan to capture the spatial information of the illumination source with intensity fluctuations. In this work, we propose a novel CGI scheme that utilizes an incoherent source to illuminate both the object and the modulations, without introducing any mutual interference between them. Through theoretical analysis and experimental validation, we demonstrate that the reconstruction process relies solely on the modulations and correlation signals of two single-pixel detectors. Concurrently, this scheme is also extended to ghost diffraction, verifying the correlation between two planes that are Fourier transform pairs of the speckle field. Moreover, our study reveals the intricate relationships between the speckle field, modulations, and object, and experimentally verifies the impact of speckle fields on image quality. Notably, this work provides a more comparable framework between CGI and QGI, offering a promising avenue to explore the classical–quantum relationship.