This second volume of Howard Carmichael’s work continues the development of the methods used in quantum optics to treat open quantum systems and their fluctuations. Its early chapters build upon the phase-space methods introduced in Volume 1. Written on a level suitable for debut researchers or students in an advanced course in quantum optics, or a course in quantum mechanics or statistical physics that deals with open quantum systems.

This is the first of a two-volume presentation on current research problems in quantum optics, and will serve as a standard reference in the field for many years to come. The book provides an introduction to the methods of quantum statistical mechanics used in quantum optics and their application to the quantum theories of the single-mode laser and optical bistability. The generalized representations of Drummond and Gardiner are discussed together with the more standard methods for deriving Fokker-Planck equations.

This second volume of Howard Carmichael’s work continues the development of the methods used in quantum optics to treat open quantum systems and their fluctuations. Its early chapters build upon the phase-space methods introduced in Volume 1. Written on a level suitable for debut researchers or students in an advanced course in quantum optics, or a course in quantum mechanics or statistical physics that deals with open quantum systems.

This book offers a systematic and comprehensive exposition of the quantum stochastic methods that have been developed in the field of quantum optics. It includes new treatments of photodetection, quantum amplifier theory, non-Markovian quantum stochastic processes, quantum input--output theory, and positive P-representations. It is the first book in which quantum noise is described by a mathematically complete theory in a form that is also suited to practical applications. Special attention is paid to non-classical effects, such as squeezing and antibunching. Chapters added to the previous edition, on the stochastic Schrödinger equation, and on cascaded quantum systems, and now supplemented, in the third edition by a chapter on recent developments in various pertinent fields such as laser cooling, Bose-Einstein condensation, quantum feedback and quantum information.

This work presents the mathematical methods widely used by workers in the field of quantum optics. It deals with the physical assumptions which lead to the models and approximations employed, but the main purpose of the text is to give a firm grounding in those techniques needed to derive analytical solutions to problems.

Authoritative introduction covers the role of Green's function in mathematical physics, essential differences between spatial and time filters, fundamental relations of paraxial optics, and effects of aberration terms on image formation. "An excellent book; well-organized, and well-written." — Journal of the Optical Society of America. 80 illustrations. 1963 edition.