Classical Optical Analogue of Quantum Discord

Quantum discord has been shown to be a resource for quantum advantage in addition to quantum entanglement. While many experiments have demonstrated classical analogies of entanglement, none have done so for discord. We present a proof-of-concept demonstration for creating a classical analogue of quantum discord using classical light that takes advantage of the analogy between the state of two qubits and the spatial modes of a Laguerre-Gauss beam. We demonstrate the validity of this approach by comparing the intensity profiles of theoretical simulations to experimental results for different values of discord. Such a classical analogue of quantum discord may provide further insight in understanding and development of quantum information technologies that make use of discord.