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Chapter 3: Optimal control theory for quantum systems

Alfio Borzı̀, Gabriele Ciaramella, M. Sprengel

Published Jul 6, 2017• 0 citations

Abstract

In the introduction to this book, we mentioned the phenomenon of stimulated emission that Einstein explained in 1917 [140]. In this process, an incoming photon interacting with an electron in an excited energy state may result in the electron getting to a lower energy level while emitting, as a by-product, a photon with the same characteristics as the incident one. Similarly, in atomic absorption, the incident photon may cause an atomic transition where the electron acquires a higher energy level, consistently with Bohr's theory [51, 52] of atomic structure proposed in 1913. Advancing this development, a few years later James Franck started a theoretical investigation concerning photoinduced chemical reactions [154].

DOI: 10.1137/1.9781611974843.ch3

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