PH-612 Quantum Optics-I

1. Field Quantization: Quantization of a single-mode field, Quantum fluctuations of a single-mode field, Quadrature operators for a single mode field, multimode fields, Thermal fields, Vacuum fluctuations and zero point energy, The quantum phase
2. Coherent state: Eigenstates of the annihilation operator and minimum uncertainty states, Displaced vacuum states, Wave packet and time evolution, Generation of coherent states, Phase space pictures of Coherent states, Density operators and phase space probability distribution, Characteristic functions.
3. Emission and Absorption of Radiation by Atoms: Atom-field interactions, Interaction of an atom with classical field, Interaction of an atom with quantized field, The Rabi model, Fully quantum-mechanical model: the Jaynes-Cumming model, The dressed states, Density operator approach: application to thermal states, The Weisskopf-Wigner theory of spontaneous emission between two atomic levels.
4. Quantum Coherence Functions: Classical coherence functions, Quantum coherence functions, Young’s interference, Higher-order coherence functions.

Texts/References:

• Introductory Quantum Optics, Christopher C. Gerry and Peter L. Knight, Cambridge University Press (2005)
• Quantum Optics, Marlan O. Scully and M. Suhail Zubairy, Cambridge University Press (1997).
• Fundamentals of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Peter Lambropoulos and David Petrosyan, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg (2007)