PHYS 684: Quantum Optics (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Daniel A. Steck
Office: 277 Willamette      Phone: 346-5313      email: dsteck@uoregon.edu
Office hours: MW 1:00-2:00, and by appointment (best to email first)
Course home page: http://atomoptics.uoregon.edu/~dsteck/teaching/07fall/phys684

Schedule: MWF 12:00-1:00, 318 Willamette
Course reference number: 14349
Credits: 4
Prerequisites: none

Links: news, course notes, homework sets and keys, software resources.

Course overview

This course will provide a broad overview of quantum-mechanical interactions between light and matter. We will focus mainly on light-atom interactions and thus we will also do some atomic structure.

Text:

I will provide typeset lecture notes for the course. They are available in composite form at this link, but I will also post separate versions for each lecture.

There are many excellent standard texts that you may find useful for this course, some of the classics and good modern works are listed here. Titles with call numbers are available in the science library. You should consider obtaining the Dover titles, since they are cheap.

• Allen and Eberly, Optical Resonance and Two-Level Atoms (QC476.5 .A44) (Dover)
• Cohen-Tannoudji, Dupont-Roc, and Grynberg, Atom-Photon Interactions (QC794.8.P4 C6413 1992)
• Loudon, The Quantum Theory of Light (QC446.2 .L68 2000)
• Mandel and Wolf, Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics (QC403 .M34 1994)
• Meystre and Sargent, Elements of Quantum Optics (QC446.2 .M48 1999)
• Scully and Zubairy, Quantum Optics (QC446.2 .S4 1997)
• Schleich, Quantum Optics in Phase Space
• Vogel and Welsch, Quantum Optics: An Introduction (QC446.2 .V64 2006)
• Fain and Khanin, Quantum Electronics
• Louisell, Radiation and Noise in Quantum Electronics (QC174.45.L6)
• Louisell, Quantum Statistical Properties of Radiation (QC680 .L65)
• Nussenzveig, Introduction to Quantum Optics

• Metcalf and van der Straten, Laser Cooling and Trapping (QC689.5.L35 M47 1999)
• Meystre, Atom Optics (QC446.2 .M46 2001)

• Corney, Atomic and Laser Spectroscopy (QC688 .C67)
• Demtroder, Laser Spectroscopy (QC454.L3 D46 2003)
• Bethe and Salpeter, Quantum Mechanics of One and Two Electron Atoms (QC174.17.P7B47 1977)
• Fano and Fano, Physics of Atoms and Molecules (QC173.F315)
• Bransden and Joachain, Physics of Atoms and Molecules (QC174.12 .B74 2000)
• Bergmann and Schaefer, Constituents of Matter: Atoms, Molecules, Nuclei, and Particles
• Davydov, Quantum Mechanics (QC174.1.D3713 1976)
• Born, Atomic Physics (QC173.B634) (Dover)
• Brink and Satchler, Angular Momentum (QC793.3.A5 B75 1993) (Dover)
• Armstrong, Theory of the Hyperfine Structure of Free Atoms (QC173.A68)

• Milonni, The Quantum Vacuum (QC688 .M553 1994)
• Cohen-Tannoudji, Dupont-Roc, and Grynberg, Photons & Atoms (QC680 .C6413 1989)
• Power, Introductory Quantum Electrodynamics
• Berestetskii, Lifshitz, and Pitaevskii, Quantum Electrodynamics (QC174.45 .B3813)

• Sargent, Scully, and Lamb Laser Physics (QC476.2 .S27 1977)
• Yariv, Quantum Electronics (QC688.Y37 1989)
• Milonni and Eberly, Lasers (QC688 .M55 1988)
• Verdeyen, Laser Electronics (TA1675 .V47 2000)
• Siegman, Lasers (TK7871.3.S552)

Grades

Grades for the course will be based on homework and a take-home final exam. The relative weights will be as follows:

• Homework: 50%
• Final exam: 50%

Homework: about 3-4 problem sets will be assigned during the term.

Final exam: the final exam is a take-home exam, and is due by noon on Monday, 3 December. It will be assigned (at least) one week in advance.

Pass/fail grading option: a passing grade requires the equivalent of a C- grade on all the course work (homework and final).

Syllabus

This is a tentative schedule of topics to cover in this course.