  We propose a computing model, the Two-Way Optical Interference Automata
(2OIA), that makes use of the phenomenon of optical interference. We introduce
this model to investigate the increase in power, in terms of language
recognition, of a classical Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) when endowed
with the facility of optical interference. The question is in the spirit of
Two-Way Finite Automata With Quantum and Classical States (2QCFA) [A. Ambainis
and J. Watrous, Two-way Finite Automata With Quantum and Classical States,
Theoretical Computer Science, 287 (1), 299-311, (2002)] wherein the classical
DFA is augmented with a quantum component of constant size. We test the power
of 2OIA against the languages mentioned in the above paper. We give efficient
2OIA algorithms to recognize languages for which 2QCFA machines have been shown
to exist, as well as languages whose status vis-a-vis 2QCFA has been posed as
open questions. Finally we show the existence of a language that cannot be
recognized by a 2OIA but can be recognized by an $O(n^3)$ space Turing machine.
