Appendix A: Semiclassical approximation

Covering some of the most exciting trends in quantum optics - quantum entanglement, teleportation, and levitation - this textbook is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The book journeys through the vast field of quantum optics following a single theme: light in media. A wide range of subjects are covered, from the force of the quantum vacuum to astrophysics, from quantum measurements to black holes. Ideas are explained in detail and formulated so that students with little prior knowledge of the subject can follow them. Each chapter ends with several short questions followed by a more detailed homework problem, designed to test the reader and show how the ideas discussed can be applied. Solutions to homework problems are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521869782.

This book explains what quantum states of light look like. Of special interest, a single photon state is explained by using a wave picture, showing that it corresponds to the complementarity of a quantum. Also explained is how light waves are created by photons, again corresponding to the complementarity of a quantum. The author shows how an optical wave is created by superposition of a "vacuum" and a single photon as a typical example. Moreover, squeezed states of light are explained as "longitudinal" waves of light and Schrödinger's cat states as macroscopic superposition states.

As part of the Physics 2010 decadal survey project, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation requested that the National Research Council assess the opportunities, over roughly the next decade, in atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) science and technology. In particular, the National Research Council was asked to cover the state of AMO science, emphasizing recent accomplishments and identifying new and compelling scientific questions. Controlling the Quantum World, discusses both the roles and challenges for AMO science in instrumentation; scientific research near absolute zero; development of extremely intense x-ray and laser sources; exploration and control of molecular processes; photonics at the nanoscale level; and development of quantum information technology. This book also offers an assessment of and recommendations about critical issues concerning maintaining U.S. leadership in AMO science and technology.

The forty-nine papers collected here illuminate the meaning of quantum theory as it is disclosed in the measurement process. Together with an introduction and a supplemental annotated bibliography, they discuss issues that make quantum theory, overarching principle of twentieth-century physics, appear to many to prefigure a new revolution in science. Originally published in 1983. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book is an up-to-date introduction to the quantum theory of measurement. Although the main principles of the field were elaborated in the 1930s by Bohr, Schrödinger, Heisenberg, von Neuman, and Mandelstam, it was not until the 1980s that technology became sufficiently advanced to allow its application in real experiments. Quantum measurement is now central to many ultra-high technology developments, such as "squeezed light," single atom traps, and searches for gravitational radiation. It is also considered to have great promise for computer science and engineering, particularly for its applications in information processing and transfer. The book begins with a brief introduction to the relevant theory and goes on to discuss all aspects of the design of practical quantum measurement systems.