Reference-Free Scattering Compensation for Entangled Photons Via Schmidt Number Manipulation

High-dimensional states of entangled photon pairs are useful in high-throughput information transfer, enhanced imaging capabilities, and sensing applications. However, their real-world usage relies on their ability to overcome environmental nuisances such as light scattering. In communication systems, for example, scattering manifests as atmospheric turbulence or dispersion in a multimode waveguide. Traditionally, this is overcome by introducing auxiliary classical light as a reference. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a novel approach where the entangled photon beam itself is used for scattering compensation, eliminating the need for any reference light.