Exploring the Quantum: Atoms, Cavities, and Photons (Oxford Graduate Texts) - Hardcover

Haroche, Serge; Raimond, Jean-Michel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198509146 ISBN 13: 9780198509141

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2006

Synopsis

The counter-intuitive aspects of quantum physics have been for long illustrated by thought experiments, from Einstein's photon box to Schródinger's cat. These experiments have now become real, with single particles--electrons, atoms or photons--directly unveiling the weird features of the quantum. State superpositions, entanglement and complementarity define a novel quantum logic which can be harnessed for information processing, raising great hopes for applications. This book describes a class of such thought experiments made real. Juggling with atoms and photons confined in cavities, ions or cold atoms in traps, is here an incentive to shed a new light on the basic concepts of quantum physics. Measurement processes and decoherence at the quantum-classical boundary are highlighted. This volume, which combines theory and experiments, will be of interest to students in quantum physics, teachers seeking illustrations for their lectures and new problem sets, researchers in quantum optics and quantum information.

About this title

About the Author

Serge Haroche
Professor, Collčge de France
Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel,
départment de physique de l'Ecole normale supérieure,
24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris
Professor at Collčge de France (Chaire de Physique Quantique) since 2001
Member of the French Academy of Sciences since 1993
Professor at Université Pierre et Marie Curie (1975-2000) and at Ecole Normale Supérieure (1984-2000).
Maītre de Conférence at Ecole Polytechnique (1975-1984)
Professor (part time) at Yale University (1984-1993)
Senior Member of Institut Universitaire de France (1991-2000)
Fellow of the Americal Physical Society (1990)
Prix Ricard of French Physical Society (1983)
Michelson Medal of Franklin Insitute (1993)
Quantum Electronics Prize of the European Physical Society (2002)
Jean-Michel Raimond
Professor, Université Pierre et Marie Curie et Institut Universitaire de France
Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel,
départment de physique de l'Ecole normale supérieure,
24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris
Professor at Université Pierre et Marie Curie since 1988
Junior member of Institut Universitaire de France, 1994-1999
Senior member of Institut Universitaire de France, Quantum Optics chair, 2001-
Ampčre Prize of the French Academy of Sciences with M. Brune, 1998
Chargé de recherches CNRS 1983-1988
Attaché de recherches CNRS 1979-1983

Review

"The authors, grand masters at the game, are eminently qualified to write such a book...Their monograph is a gem and a must-read for any student of quantum physics, from advanced undergraduate to expert."-- Physics Today

"This is a wonderfully well-informed book. The authors tackle a difficult subject with beautiful clarity and elegance. It should be required reading for anyone who wishes to explore the quantum wonders of Nature."--A. Ekert, University of Cambridge

"This is a wonderfully well-informed book. The authors tackle a difficult subject with beautiful clarity and elegance. It should be required reading for anyone who wishes to explore the quantum wonders of Nature."--A. Ekert, University of Cambridge

"The book is clearly a tour de force."--Mathematical Reviews

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0198509146
• ISBN 13: 9780198509141
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 616