This Special Issue of Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics brings together the contributions of various researchers working on theoretical and experimental aspects of fluctuational phenomena in photonics and quantum optics. The topics discussed in this issue extend from fundamental physics to applications of noise and fluctuational methods from quantum to classical systems, and include: • Quantum measurement • Quantum squeezing • Solitons and fibres • Gravitational wave inferometers • Fluorescence phenomena • Cavity QED • Photon statistics • Noise in lasers and laser systems • Quantum computing and information • Quantum lithography • Teleportation.
This Special Issue of Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics brings together the contributions of various researchers working on theoretical and experimental aspects of fluctuational phenomena in photonics and quantum optics. The topics discussed in this issue extend from fundamental physics to applications of noise and fluctuational methods from quantum to classical systems, and include: • Quantum measurement • Quantum squeezing • Solitons and fibres • Gravitational wave inferometers • Fluorescence phenomena • Cavity QED • Photon statistics • Noise in lasers and laser systems • Quantum computing and information • Quantum lithography • Teleportation.
This Special Issue of Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics brings together contributions of various researchers working on theoretical and experimental aspects of quantum optics and quantum entanglement. The physics of quantum entangled states, an interdisciplinary field of research involving quantum optics, physics of quantum information and foundations of quantum theory, has been intensively exploited over the last decade in connection with quantum information processing, quantum communication and quantum computing. It was shown that the use of entangled states opens new horizons in such practical fields as cryptography, computing, information transmission, quantum imaging and precision measurements. Essential progress has also been achieved in the area of photon squeezing, generation of nonclassical states, including Schrödinger cats, trapped ions, Bose–Einstein condensates, cavity quantum electrodynamics, the Casimir effect, etc. These results have initiated applications in quantum information and communication, quantum imaging and quantum computing. This special issue is published in connection with the International Conference on Quantum Electronics (IQEC 2002) held on 26 June–1 July 2002, in Moscow, Russia, where the topics of quantum optics, generation and characterization of the entangled states and their applications were discussed in the framework of regular sections on quantum optics, quantum information and quantum computing, and during the special symposium on entangled states. We would like to express our gratitude to both authors and reviewers, for their efforts in preparing and ensuring the high scientific quality of the papers in this special issue. While the issue was in preparation for publication, one of the guest editors, Professor Anatoly Oraevski, suddenly passed away. He was a great scientist, recognized worldwide for his numerous important contributions to nonlinear and quantum optics, and to laser physics. Anatoly was always an enthusiastic advisor, mentor and collaborator. All of us remember numerous positive interactions with him, not only while organizing IQEC 2002 in Moscow last summer, but also throughout the years. He will be missed both for his scientific insight and because he was a good, kind and gentle man. Editing this special issue of Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics together with Professor Oraevski was our last joint effort and we would like to pay a tribute to him by dedicating this issue to his memory.
This special issue offers a large selection of contributions dealing with recent advances in the theoretical and experimental aspects of quantum correlations and fluctuations. The issue results from a proposal to dedicate a special issue to the topics covered in the 6th International Conference on Squeezed States and Uncertainty Relations (ICSSUR '99) which took place in Naples, Italy on 24-29 May 1999. This proposal was received enthusiastically by the conference organisers, and the unexpectedly large number of contributions indicates the high level of interest in coherent effects in optics and related systems. The published papers encompass a wide range of topics: quantum measurements and noise, quantum interference and correlations, quantum communication and information, generation and characterization of non-classical states of light, squeezed states, and other quantum harmonic oscillators and quantum-like systems. With thanks to the Editor and the Editorial Office for all the work done, the guest editors express the hope that analogous thematic issues could appear in the near future.
Fluctuation-induced phenomena are ubiquitous manifestations of the statistical and/or quantum nature of a system. They are present in many areas of physics ranging from quantum optics to gravity, from statistical physics to cosmology and include a multitude of interdisciplinary topics. The exact knowledge of these phenomena is rapidly becoming important for the characterization of modern experimental set-ups and has important implications in a wide range of distinct disciplines. This feature issue gives a modern inside view of this exciting multidisciplinary field of research, from the perspective of photonics systems. It collects papers that feature fluctuations in light-matter interactions as a common Leitmotiv, covering areas of quantum/atom optics with strong impact in fundamental science as well as in numerous technological applications.
With this special issue, Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics contributes to the celebration of the World Year of Physics held in recognition of five brilliant papers written by Albert Einstein in 1905. There is no need to explain to the readers of this journal the content and importance of these papers, which are cornerstones of modern physics. The 51 contributions in this special issue represent current trends in quantum optics —100 years after the concept of light quanta was introduced. At first glance, in his famous papers of 1905, Einstein treated quite independent subjects—special relativity, the nature and statistical properties of light, electrodynamics of moving bodies and Brownian motion. We now know that all these phenomena are deeply related, and these relations are clearly shown in many papers in this issue. Most of the papers are based on the talks and poster contributions from participants of the 9th International Conference on Squeezed States and Uncertainty Relations (ICSSUR'05), which took place in Besançon, France, 2–6 May, 2005. This was the continuation of a series of meetings, originating with the first workshops organized by Professor Y S Kim at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, in 1991 and by Professor V I Man'ko at the Lebedev Physical Institute, Moscow in 1992. One of the main topics of ICSSUR'05 and this special issue is the theory and applications of squeezed states and their generalizations. At first glance, one could think that this subject has no relation to Einstein's papers. However, this is not true: the theory of squeezed states is deeply related to special relativity, as far as it is based on the representations of the Lorentz group (see the paper by Kim Y S and Noz M E, S458–S467), which also links the current concepts of entanglement and decoherence with Lorentz-covariance. Besides, studies of the different quantum states of light imply, after all, the study of photon (or photo-electron) statistics and fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, whose importance was first emphasized by Einstein in 1905. The squeezed states can also be considered as a generalization of the concept of coherent states, which turned out to be one of the most important theoretical tools for solving the numerous problems of quantum optics. It seems highly symbolical that the printed version of this special issue will appear in the same month when one of the prominent creators of the theory of coherent states and modern quantum optics—Professor Roy J Glauber—will receive his Nobel Prize in Stockholm. ICSSUR'05 was opened by the invited talk of R J Glauber, `What makes a quantum jump?', and we take great pleasure in congratulating him on this well deserved award. We are sure that all participants of ICSSUR'05 and all readers of this special issue share our feelings. Two other Nobel Prize winners of 2005—Professor J L Hall and Professor T W Hänsch—also made great contributions to quantum optics. In particular, in 1986, J L Hall with collaborators, performed the first experiments on the generation of squeezed states by parametric down conversion, having obtained squeezing at the 50\% level (Wu L A, Kimble H J, Hall J L and Wu H 1986 Phys. Rev. Lett. 57 2520). Another area, which has attracted the attention of many researchers in the past decade and which is well represented in this special issue, is related to the problems of quantum correlations, entanglement and quantum nonlocality. It is also connected with the name of Einstein due to his famous `EPR' paper of 1935 written together with Podolsky and Rosen. For several decades this was an area of `thought experiments' only, but now this field is becoming a new part of physics, known as `quantum information'. The reader can find several papers which introduce new concepts in this area, such as applications of the Galois algebras and discrete Wigner functions. Solutions of different problems of the interaction between light and matter (which also take their origin in Einstein's paper of 1905), stationary and nonstationary Casimir effect, decoherence, new forms of uncertainty relations and their experimental verification, etc, can also be found in this issue. Many other contributions will be published in another special issue of the International Journal of Modern Physics B entitled `Quantum Information in Modern Optics'. This special issue is also the last issue of Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics. For the past 15 years this journal and its predecessors—Quantum Optics and Quantum and Semiclassical Optics—gained great respect among the quantum optics community. Many breakthrough papers were published in its pages during this period (see, for example, Schrade G, Man'ko V I, Schleich W P and Glauber R J 1995 Wigner Functions in the Paul trap Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 7 307). Since 1999, Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics has published a special issue for each ICSSUR meeting. This is the fourth issue of this series. We would like to thank Institute of Physics Publishing and the staff of Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics for providing the opportunity to pursue this programme, hoping that such a cooperation will continue in the future. We would also like to thank the many colleagues, who served as referees and whose efforts helped immensely in the preparation of this issue at such a high standard. The 10th ICSSUR conference will be organized for 2007 in Bradford, UK, by Professor A Vourdas. We invite readers to join us in two years.
The field of quantum optics has progressed rapidly in the last twenty five years with the advent of the laser. Over much of this period the phenomena studied could be described adequately by semiclassical treatments. Quite recently however, there has been a revival of interest in genuinely quantum mechanical effects. The Malvern Symposium of December 1985 brought together world experts for a meeting which concentrated largely on these quantum effects. The presentations in this unique meeting combine review material with the very latest results and so will be of value to students of quantum optics and measurement theory at all levels. The first articles cover the exciting topic of the generation of squeezed states of light in the laboratory, and their possible uses. Experimental success has been long sought and very recently attained. The reader will find presented the state of the art in this field. Next to lasing itself, optical bistability has been the most widely studied phenomenon in quantum optics, largely for its technological promise. However, it also provides a fundamental system to study quuantum effects. Recent theoretical studies of optical bistability with small numbers of atoms are surveyed. In such situations quantum features such as antibunching become significant, and the articles in this volume should be a guide to those venturing into this challenging area. In other articles discussions of fluctuations from other noise sources and instabilities in optical bistabilty are presented in a clear and interesting way. Perhaps the least classical state on quantum optics is that describing a single photon. Recent experiments which produce such states are reviewed. A theoretical review of the photon together with some new material is given which delves deeply into relativistic quantum field theory in order to describe the concept of weakly localised photon states. The material here is very rarely presented in the context of quantum optics. The history of the theory of the quantum fluctuations in a laser is then reviewed. An off-shoot of this theory is the study of quantum chaos in dissipative systems and recent results in this new area are given in a succeeding article. There are further stimulating articles on Rydberg atom systems and quantum electrodynamics. The volume ends with an entertaining and incisive study of quantum measurement problems, such as the Schrodinger cat papadox, using concepts and measuring devices found in quantum optics.other_titles