  Quantum coherence, a basic feature of quantum mechanics residing in
superpositions of quantum states, is a resource for quantum information
processing. Coherence emerges in a fundamentally different way for nonidentical
and identical particles, in that for the latter a unique contribution exists
linked to indistinguishability which cannot occur for nonidentical particles.
We experimentally demonstrate by an optical setup this additional contribution
to quantum coherence, showing that its amount directly depends on the degree of
indistinguishability and exploiting it to run a quantum phase discrimination
protocol. Furthermore, the designed setup allows for simulating Fermionic
particles with photons, thus assessing the role of particle statistics (Bosons
or Fermions) in coherence generation and utilization. Our experiment proves
that independent indistinguishable particles can supply a controllable resource
of coherence for quantum metrology.
