Generation and characterization of position-momentum entangled photon pairs in a hot atomic gas cell

Continuous-variable position-momentum entanglement (or Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entanglement) of two particles has played important roles in the fundamental study of quantum physics as well as in the progress of quantum information. In this paper, we propose a scheme to generate Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) position-momentum entangled photon pairs efficiently via spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) process in a hot rubidium gas cell. The EPR entanglement between the photon pair is measured and characterized by using the ghost interference and the ghost imaging method. Due to the simplicity of the experimental setup and the high photon pair generation rate, our EPR entangled photon source may has potential applications in quantum imaging, hyperentanglement preparation and atomic ensemble based quantum information processing and quantum communication protocols.