Experimental study of the macroscopic quantum fluctuations of partially coherent stimulated Raman scattering

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Abstract
The large-scale fluctuations of Stokes light generated by stimulated Raman scattering have been studied experimentally by measuring the probability density function of Stokes pulse energies. The size and shape of the scattering region and the rate of collisional dephasing of the scatterers determine the degree of coherence of the Stokes light, and this in turn determines the form of the probability distribution. The experiments were performed for several diameters of the scattering volume, and for various collisional dephasing rates. The results of the experiments are compared to a recently reported quantum theory, and qualitative agreement is found. The need for a more accurate theory is pointed out.