Quantum optics
Quantum optics is a branch of
quantum mechanics, such as entanglement and teleportation, and are a useful resource for quantum information processing
.
History
Light propagating in a restricted volume of space has its
quantum electronics in 1960. Laser science—i.e., research into principles, design and application of these devices—became an important field, and the quantum mechanics underlying the laser's principles was studied now with more emphasis on the properties of light[dubious
], and the name quantum optics became customary.
As laser science needed good theoretical foundations, and also because research into these soon proved very fruitful, interest in quantum optics rose. Following the work of
squeezed states, etc. as it became understood that light cannot be fully described just referring to the electromagnetic fields describing the waves in the classical picture. In 1977, Kimble et al. demonstrated a single atom emitting one photon at a time, further compelling evidence that light consists of photons. Previously unknown quantum states of light with characteristics unlike classical states, such as squeezed light
were subsequently discovered.
Development of short and
Bose–Einstein condensation
.
Other remarkable results are the
quantum information theory, a subject which partly emerged from quantum optics, partly from theoretical computer science.[1]
Today's fields of interest among quantum optics researchers include
parametric down-conversion, parametric oscillation, even shorter (attosecond) light pulses, use of quantum optics for quantum information, manipulation of single atoms, Bose–Einstein condensates, their application, and how to manipulate them (a sub-field often called atom optics), coherent perfect absorbers, and much more. Topics classified under the term of quantum optics, especially as applied to engineering and technological innovation, often go under the modern term photonics
.
Several
Nobel prizes
have been awarded for work in quantum optics. These were awarded:
- in 2022, Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science".[2]
- in 2012, Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring & manipulation of individual quantum systems".[3]
- in 2005, Theodor W. Hänsch, Roy J. Glauber and John L. Hall[4]
- in 2001, Wolfgang Ketterle, Eric Allin Cornell and Carl Wieman[5]
- in 1997, Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips[6]
Concepts
According to
wavefunction
spread over a finite region.
Each particle carries one quantum of energy, equal to hf, where h is
Planck's constant and f is the frequency of the light. That energy possessed by a single photon corresponds exactly to the transition between discrete energy levels in an atom (or other system) that emitted the photon; material absorption of a photon is the reverse process. Einstein's explanation of spontaneous emission also predicted the existence of stimulated emission, the principle upon which the laser rests. However, the actual invention of the maser (and laser) many years later was dependent on a method to produce a population inversion
.
The use of statistical mechanics is fundamental to the concepts of quantum optics: light is described in terms of field operators for creation and annihilation of photons—i.e. in the language of quantum electrodynamics.
A frequently encountered state of the light field is the
sub-Poissonian photon statistics. Such light is called squeezed light. Other important quantum aspects are related to correlations of photon statistics between different beams. For example, spontaneous parametric down-conversion
can generate so-called 'twin beams', where (ideally) each photon of one beam is associated with a photon in the other beam.
Atoms are considered as quantum mechanical
eigenstates
being driven by the absorption or emission of light according to Einstein's theory.
For solid state matter, one uses the
solid state physics
. This is important for understanding how light is detected by solid-state devices, commonly used in experiments.
Quantum electronics
Quantum electronics is a term that was used mainly between the 1950s and 1970squantum cellular automata.
See also
Notes
- ISBN 978-1107002173.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2012". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2005". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2001". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1997". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
- ^ Brunner, Witlof; Radloff, Wolfgang; Junge, Klaus (1975). Quantenelektronik (in German). Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften.
References
- Gerry, Christopher; Knight, Peter (2004). Introduction to Quantum Optics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052152735X.
- The Nobel Prize in Physics 2005
Further reading
- L. Mandel, E. Wolf Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics (Cambridge 1995).
- D. F. Walls and G. J. MilburnQuantum Optics (Springer 1994).
- Crispin Gardiner and Peter Zoller, Quantum Noise (Springer 2004).
- H.M. Moya-Cessa and F. Soto-Eguibar, Introduction to Quantum Optics (Rinton Press 2011).
- M. O. Scully and M. S. ZubairyQuantum Optics (Cambridge 1997).
- W. P. Schleich Quantum Optics in Phase Space (Wiley 2001).
- Kira, M.; Koch, S. W. (2011). Semiconductor Quantum Optics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521875097.
- ISBN 978-1439888537.
External links
- An introduction to quantum optics of the light field
- Encyclopedia of laser physics and technology, with content on quantum optics (particularly quantum noise in lasers), by Rüdiger Paschotta.
- Qwiki - A quantum physics wiki devoted to providing technical resources for practicing quantum physicists.
- Quantiki - a free-content WWW resource in quantum information science that anyone can edit.
- Various Quantum Optics Reports
