This textbook gives a broad coverage of the basic elements necessary to understand and carry out research in laser physics and quantum optics. It presents a variety of theoretical tools as well as important results for two-level and semiconductor media, many of which could only be found in the original literature or in specialized monographs up to now. An important feature of the text is that it reveals the close connection between many seemingly unrelated or only distantly related topics, such as probe absorption, four-wave mixing, optical instabilities, resonance fluorescence, and squeezing. The introductory chapters deal with selected aspects of classical radiation theory, classical nonlinear optics, and quantum mechanics. Then semiclassical light-matter interactions involved in laser theory, optical bistability and instabilities, saturation spectroscopy, phase conjugation, and coherent transients are discussed. The final chapters treat aspects of quantum optics that require the quantization of the electromagnetic field, including spontaneous emission, resonance fluorescence, "nonclassical fields" and squeezing, and the quantum theory of the laser. The second edition contains a significant number of changes designed to improve clarity. A new section has been added on the theory of resonant light pressure and the manipulation of atomic trajectories by light. The photon-echo problem has been reformulated to reveal its relationship to four-wave mixing.
Elements of Quantum Optics gives a self-contained and broad coverage of the basic elements necessary to understand and carry out research in laser physics and quantum optics, including a review of basic quantum mechanics and pedagogical introductions to system-reservoir interactions and to second quantization. The text reveals the close connection between many seemingly unrelated topics, such as probe absorption, four-wave mixing, optical instabilities, resonance fluorescence and squeezing. It also comprises discussions of cavity quantum electrodynamics and atom optics. The 4th edition includes a new chapter on quantum entanglement and quantum information, as well as added discussions of the quantum beam splitter, electromagnetically induced transparency, slow light, and the input-output formalism needed to understand many problems in quantum optics. It also provides an expanded treatment of the minimum-coupling Hamiltonian and a simple derivation of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, an important gateway to research in ultracold atoms and molecules.
