Quantum optics

Quantum optics is a eld of research that uses

semiclassical and quantum-mechanical physics to investigate phenomena involving light and its interactions with
matter at submicroscopic levels.[1]

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 ultrashort laser pulses
created by Q switching and modelocking techniques
opened the way to the study of what became known as
ultrafast processes. Applications for solid state research
(e.g. Raman spectroscopy) were found, and mechanical
forces of light on matter were studied. The latter led to
levitating and positioning clouds of atoms or even small
biological samples in an optical trap or optical tweezers
by laser beam. This, along with Doppler cooling, was
the crucial technology needed to achieve the celebrated
BoseEinstein condensation.

History of quantum optics

Light propagating in a vacuum has its energy and

momentum quantized according to an integer number of
particles known as photons. Quantum optics studies the
nature and eects of light as quantized photons. The rst
major development leading to that understanding was the
correct modeling of the blackbody radiation spectrum by
Max Planck in 1899 under the hypothesis of light being
emitted in discrete units of energy. The photoelectric
eect was further evidence of this quantization as explained by Einstein in a 1905 paper, a discovery for which
he was to be awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921. Niels
Bohr showed that the hypothesis of optical radiation being quantized corresponded to his theory of the quantized
energy levels of atoms, and the spectrum of discharge
emission from hydrogen in particular. The understanding of the interaction between light and matter following
these developments was crucial for the development of
quantum mechanics as a whole. However, the subelds of
quantum mechanics dealing with matter-light interaction
were principally regarded as research into matter rather
than into light; hence one rather spoke of atom physics
and quantum electronics in 1960. Laser sciencei.e.,
research into principles, design and application of these
devicesbecame an important eld, and the quantum
mechanics underlying the lasers principles was studied
now with more emphasis on the properties of light, and
the name quantum optics became customary.

Other remarkable results are the demonstration of quantum entanglement, quantum teleportation,an quantum
logic gates. The latter are of much interest in quantum
information theory, a subject which partly emerged from
quantum optics, partly from theoretical computer science.
Todays elds 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, BoseEinstein condensates, their application, and how to manipulate them
(a sub-eld often called atom optics), coherent perfect
absorbers, and much more. Topics classied 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:

As laser science needed good theoretical foundations, and

also because research into these soon proved very fruit in 2012, Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland for
ful, interest in quantum optics rose. Following the work
ground-breaking experimental methods that enable
of Dirac in quantum eld theory, George Sudarshan, Roy
measuring & manipulation of individual quantum
J. Glauber, and Leonard Mandel applied quantum thesystems.[2]
ory to the electromagnetic eld in the 1950s and 1960s
in 2005, Theodor W. Hnsch, Roy J. Glauber and
to gain a more detailed understanding of photodetection
John L. Hall[3]
and the statistics of light (see degree of coherence). This
led to the introduction of the coherent state as a concept
which addressed variations between laser light, thermal
light, exotic squeezed states, etc. as it became understood 2 Concepts of quantum optics
that light cannot be fully described just referring to the
electromagnetic elds describing the waves in the classi- According to quantum theory, light may be considcal picture. In 1977, Kimble et al. demonstrated a single ered not only as an electro-magnetic wave but also as a
1

7 FURTHER READING

stream of particles called photons which travel with c,

the vacuum speed of light. These particles should not be
considered to be classical billiard balls, but as quantum
mechanical particles described by a wavefunction spread
over a nite region.

electrons. Specic applications of quantum mechanics in

electronics is researched within semiconductor physics.
The term also encompassed the basic processes of laser
operation, which is today studied as a topic in quantum
optics. Usage of the term overlapped early work on the
Each particle carries one quantum of energy, equal to hf, quantum Hall eect and quantum cellular automata.
where h is Plancks constant and f is the frequency of the
light. That energy possessed by a single photon corresponds exactly to the transition between discrete energy 4 See also
levels in an atom (or other system) that emitted the pho Optics
ton; material absorption of a photon is the reverse process. Einsteins explanation of spontaneous emission also
Optical phase space
predicted the existence of stimulated emission, the prin Optical physics
ciple upon which the laser rests. However, the actual invention of the maser (and laser) many years later was de Nonclassical light
pendent on a method to produce a population inversion.
Valleytronics
The use of statistical mechanics is fundamental to the
concepts of quantum optics: Light is described in
terms of eld operators for creation and annihilation of
photonsi.e. in the language of quantum electrodynam- 5 Notes
ics.
A frequently encountered state of the light eld is the
coherent state, as introduced by Roy J. Glauber in 1963.
This state, which can be used to approximately describe
the output of a single-frequency laser well above the laser
threshold, exhibits Poissonian photon number statistics.
Via certain nonlinear interactions, a coherent state can
be transformed into a squeezed coherent state,by applying a squeezing operator which can exhibit super- or subPoissonian photon statistics. Such light is called squeezed
light. Other important quantum aspects are related to
correlations of photon statistics between dierent 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 oscillators
with a discrete energy spectrum, with the transitions between the energy eigenstates being driven by the absorption or emission of light according to Einsteins theory.
For solid state matter, one uses the energy band models
of solid state physics. This is important for understanding
how light is detected by a solid-state devices, commonly
used in experiments.

Quantum electronics

Quantum electronics is a term that was used mainly between the 1950s and 1970s to denote the area of physics
dealing with the eects of quantum mechanics on the
behavior of electrons in matter, together with their interactions with photons. Today, it is rarely considered
a sub-eld in its own right, and it has been absorbed by
other elds. Solid state physics regularly takes quantum
mechanics into account, and is usually concerned with

[1] Gerry & Knight 2004, p. 1.

[2] The Nobel Prize in Physics 2012. Nobel Foundation.

Retrieved 9 October 2012.
[3] http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/
laureates/2005/

6 References
Gerry, Christopher; Knight, Peter (2004). Introduction to Quantum Optics. Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 052152735X.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2005

7 Further reading
L. Mandel, E. Wolf Optical Coherence and Quantum
Optics (Cambridge 1995)
D. F. Walls and G. J. Milburn Quantum Optics
(Springer 1994)
C. W. 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. Zubairy Quantum 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 9780521875097.

External links
An introduction to quantum optics of the light eld
Encyclopedia of laser physics and technology, with
content on quantum optics (particularly quantum
noise in lasers), by Rdiger 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

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