The monograph is devoted to phenomena of nonlinear optics appearing on a macro scopic level in the interaction of intense light with an isolated atom. It is a first attempt to summarize the elementary phenomena of nonlinear optics and present the various methods used in experiment and theory. In essence, this book can be considered an expanded version of the new aspect of quantum mechanics and atomic physics that in time will be incorporated into te- books on this subject. By the middle of this century the interaction of light with atoms had become one of the most investigated branches of physics. However, in the mid-sixties the development of high-power lasers changed this situation completely. It is a well-known fact that lasers are essentially new sources of light with high intensity, sharp directivity, and practically ideal monochromaticity. Entirely new phenomena came up in the studies of the interaction of light with atoms. In an intense light field, multiphoton transitions become important. The field disturbs the atomic levels, shifting, broadening, and mixing them. In an extremely strong field the atom ceases to be a bound system. These and similar phenomena on the atomic (microscopic) level determine the variations in the averaged, macroscopic properties of the medium, variations that cause nonlinear-optics phenomena, which radically change the fundamental classical laws of the interaction of light with matter.

This book presents and describes a series of unusual and striking strong-field phenomena concerning atoms and free electrons. Some of these phenomena are: multiphoton stimulated bremsstrahlung, free-electron lasers, wave-packet physics, above-threshold ionization, and strong-field stabilization in Rydberg atoms. The theoretical foundations and causes of the phenomena are described in detail, with all the approximations and derivations discussed. All the known and relevant experiments are described too, and their results are compared with those of the existing theoretical models.An extensive general theoretical introduction gives a good basis for subsequent parts of the book and is an independent and self-sufficient description of the most efficient theoretical methods of the strong-field and multiphoton physics. This book can serve as a textbook for graduate students.

Papers written during the last 40 years by Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and his collaborators on various physical effects which can be observed on atoms interacting with electromagnetic fields.

A unified account of the rapidly developing field of high-intensity laser-atom interactions, suitable for both graduate students and researchers.

This book presents and describes a series of unusual and striking strong-field phenomena concerning atoms and free electrons. Some of these phenomena are: multiphoton stimulated bremsstrahlung, free-electron lasers, wave-packet physics, above-threshold ionization, and strong-field stabilization in Rydberg atoms. The theoretical foundations and causes of the phenomena are described in detail, with all the approximations and derivations discussed. All the known and relevant experiments are described too, and their results are compared with those of the existing theoretical models.An extensive general theoretical introduction gives a good basis for subsequent parts of the book and is an independent and self-sufficient description of the most efficient theoretical methods of the strong-field and multiphoton physics. This book can serve as a textbook for graduate students.

This book presents a collection of papers, written during the last 33 years by Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and his collaborators, on various physical effects which can be observed on atoms interacting with electromagnetic fields. It consists of a personal selection of review papers, lectures given at schools, as well as original experimental and theoretical papers. Emphasis is put on physical mechanisms and on general approaches, such as the dressed atom approach, having a wide range of applications. Various topics are discussed, such as light shifts, level crossing resonances, multiphoton processes, resonance fluorescence in intense laser fields, photon correlations, quantum jumps, radiative corrections, laser cooling and trapping.This volume includes short introductions by the author. Each paper presented in the volume is preceded by a short commentary giving its motivations, explaining how it fits with the general evolution of the research field, and pointing out connections existing between works done at different periods.