Quantum Measurements in Optics

The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Quantum Measurements in Optics was held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, January 21-25, 1991. This workshop was attended by 70 participants from 16 different countries. The subjects discussed at this workshop concentrated on quantum measurements in optics made possible by the recent advances in the generation and detection of light with low quantum noise. These advances have occurred simultaneously with the development of atomic traps capable of trapping a single atom for a considerable period of time. The interaction of a single two level atom with the single mode of the electromagnetic field is now possible in high Q microcavities. A new field of cavity QED has developed studying the properties of Rydberg atoms in microwave cavities. At this meeting we heard the first report of an atomic interferometer where a single atom passing through the two slits exhibits wave like interference phenomena. This new field involving the transfer of momentum from photons to atoms has lead to new possibilities for quantum nondemolition measurements on an optical field. We heard suggestions for such measurements at this meeting. With the new light sources available the possibility of using low quantum noise light in optical communications becomes close to reality. The problem of the propagation of quantum light field in optical fibres was actively discussed at this meeting.

Proceedings of a NATO ARW held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, January 21-25, 1991

Springer Book Archives

I. Atomic Inferferometry and Trapping.- Quantum Theory of Particle Trapping by Oscillating Fields.- Quantum Measurements on Localized Particles.- Interferometry with Metastable Rare Gas Atoms.- Quantum Measurements in Atomic Interferometry.- An Atomic-Beam Quantum-Eraser Gedanken Experiment.- II. Quantum Measurements.- Quantum Mechanical Watch-Dog Effect and Measurement-Induced State Reduction in a Semiconductor Laser.- Quantum Non-Demolition Measurement of an Optical Intensity in a Three-Level Atomic Non-Linear System.- The Quantum Measurement Process and the One-Atom Maser.- Phase-Sensitive Back-Action on a Microscopic System.- Novel Effects in Quantum Optics.- Cavity Q.E.D.: Fundamental Theory of the Micromaser and Measurements of Its Cavity Field.- The Action Uncertainty Principle for Continuous Quantum Measurements.- Cavity QED and Classical Antenna Theory.- Macroscopic Distinguishable States of Mechanical Oscillators Generated by Quantum Nondemolition Measurements.- III. Quantum Noise Reduction and Squeezing.- Progress and Perspectives in Squeezing.- Quantum Noise Reduction and Instabilities in Nondegenerate Four-Wave-Mixing.- Semi-Classical Input-Output Linearization Techniques for Quantum Fluctuations and Beyond.- Quantum Superpositions: Squeezing and Dissipations.- Time-Dependent Invariants and Nonclassical Light.- A Unified Approach to the Quantum Master and Langevin Equations.- Rate Equation Approach to Squeezing.- Quantum Noise Reduction in Lasers by Dynamic Pump Noise Suppression.- IV. Optical Propagation, Communication and Imaging.- Wideband Quantum Communication: A New Frontier?.- Quantum Mechanical Treatment of a Propagating Optical Beam.- Direct Space Quantum Optics: Light Propagation in a Nonlinear Medium.- Quantum Holography, Synthetic Aperture RadarImaging and Computed Tomographic Imaging.- Photonic Band Structure.- Information, Quantum Correlations and Communication.- V. Photon Interference and Bell's Theorem.- What is two photons? Interference and Non-Local Effects Using Photon Pairs.- Bell's Theorem Without Inequalities and Beyond.- The Stochastic Interferometry and the Foundations of the Bose-Einstein Statistics.- Wave Functionals for the Photon Field.- Tests on the Reality of De Broglie Waves with Two Coherent Photons.- Quantum Cryptography and Bell's Theorem.- Is Complementarity Compatible With Quantum Optics?.- Group photo.