Course Outline

Quantum optics is a field which studies the behavior of light and light matter interactions at the quantum level. Its only through quantum optics that many deep and often baffling observations with light are resolved. With the advent of quantum computing and quantum communications, quantum optics takes a primary role owing to its foundational contribution to both these applied areas. This course will be an introductory quantum optics course and below listed are some representative topics covered in the course. There will be additional time allocated to specific problems of current interest in the course.

Topics

1. Quantization of the electromagnetic field
2. Vacuum fluctuations
3. Wave packet representation
4. Coherent states
5. Density operators and phase space
6. Atom-field interactions
7. Jaynes-Cummins Model
8. Dressed States
9. Von-Neumann Entropy
10. Coherence functions
11. Squeezed States
12. Bunching and Anti-bunching
13. Cat states and other forms of non-classical light
14. Tests of Quantum Mechanics
15. Introduction to cavity QED
16. Advanced topics in quantum measurements

Textbooks:

1. Introductory Quantum Optics by C. C. Gerry and Peter Knight, Cambridge University Press (2012)
2. Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics by Leonard Mandel and Emil Wolf, Cambridge University Press (2013)
3. Quantum Optics: An Introduction, by Mark Fox, Oxford Master Series in Physics (2007)
4. Various Research and Review Papers discussed in class.