Dear Colleagues,

Beyond being an interesting method of taking pictures of a target object that isn't directly in view, ghost imaging is a very attractive method in the research fields of quantum measurement, quantum information, quantum metrology, and digital imaging processing; which notably improves the performance of optical systems in terms of resolution, reliability, and robustness.

There have been two major theories to guide the research of ghost imaging: one is based on Einstein's granularity picture of radiation and quantum statistical theory; another is based on Maxwell's continuum picture of radiation and classical statistical theory.

The quantum approach, which involves multi-photon interference, either local or nonlocal, has lead to several interesting results, for example, turbulence-free imaging devices which may achieve special resolution beyond classical limit, and lower-cost thermal light qubits and CNOT gates for quantum processing.

The classical approach, which involves characteristics of stochastic behavior or classical statistical properties of optical fields or signals, has also lead to interesting results, for example, ambient light-free and robust imaging.

Ghost imaging has been adapted quickly to other research fields. Many interesting applications have recently been proposed in the fields of remote sensing, X-ray imaging, neutron imaging, and so on. 

We believe various research fields and technologies may benefit from ghost imaging. We expect, through our efforts, this special issue would be able to publish as many as possible interesting results, ideas, proposals, and discussions about ghost imaging, which could be helpful to the further research and practical applications of ghost imaging itself and to the research and practical applications of other fields.

Prof. Dr. Kouichi Nitta
Prof. Dr. Yanhua Shih
Guest Editors

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• Quantum imaging

• Quantum entanglement

• Quantum metrology

• Speckle phenomena

• Signal reconstruction

• Image restoration

• Imaging reliability and robustness