Polyteknisk Boghandel

This elementary introduction to the subject of quantum optics, the study of the quantum mechanical nature of light and its interaction with matter, is almost entirely concerned with the quantized electromagnetic field. The text is designed for upper-level undergraduates taking courses in quantum optics who have already taken a course in quantum mechanics, and for first- and second- year graduate students.

1. Introduction;
2. Field quantization;
3. Coherent states;
4. Emission and absorption of radiation by atoms;
5. Quantum coherence functions;
6. Beam splitters and interferometers;
7. Nonclassical light;
8. Dissipative interactions and decoherence;
9. Optical test of quantum mechanics;
10. Experiments in cavity QED and with trapped ions;
11. Applications of entanglement: Heisenberg-limited interferometry and quantum information processing;
Appendix A. The density operator, entangled states, the Schmidt decomposition, and the von Neumann entropy;
Appendix B. Quantum measurement theory in a (very small) nutshell;
Appendix C. Derivation of the effective Hamiltonian for dispersive (far off-resonant) interactions;
Appendix D. Nonlinear optics and spontaneous parametric down-conversion.