Selected Topics in Nonlinear and Quantum Optics

Ole Keller

Stephen Colby Rand

Chapter 7 initially discusses mechanical effects on light and their application to optical tweezers. This leads to a discussion of laser cooling of gases and solids, magneto-optic traps, and velocity-selective coherent population trapping. Coherent population transfer is a counterintuitive way of altering the occupation of energy levels in an exceptionally efficient manner. Coherent transverse optical magnetism explores an optical effect mediated by the Lorentz force of light. Induced magnetic scattering is discussed and a closed form solution presented. Electromagnetically induced transparency is an interference effect that is useful for rendering opaque media transparent and enhancing high-order nonlinear optical processes via intermediate steps that may be fully resonant. Slow light is discussed. Squeezed light is given as an example of a coherent state with altered noise properties. Cavity quantum electrodynamics treats the interaction of atoms with light fields inside cavities, showing that strong atom-field interactions are possible in which the energy structure of the atoms is altered. A section on quantum information processing explains how quantum bits may be realized in practice and used to perform logic operations for quantum computing.

Anatoliy K. Prykarpatsky, Ufuk Taneri, NICKOLAI N. BOGOLUBOV

Methods of Studying Quantum Optical Phenomena: Quantum States and Statistics Creation and Annihilation Operators The One-Particle Green's Function The Dyson Equations Polarization Operators The Hartree-Fock Approximation Nonlinear Quantum Optics Models and Their Applications: Nonlinear Quantum Optics Bose-Systems The Dicke Model A Degenerate Parametric Quantum Optical Amplifier A Nonlinear Quantum-Optical System at Equilibrium Radiative State and other topics.

Y. R. Shen

Selected topics related to the fundamentals of nonlinear optics are discussed. First, a brief description on the theory of nonlinear optical susceptibilities is given. Emphasis is on the basic properties, on the recently developed bond theory, and on the dispersion of nonlinear susceptibilities. Then the coupled wave approach is discussed. It is shown that the transverse resonant excitation in material can be treated as a material excitational wave, and most nonlinear optics problems can be understood as results of coupling between em waves or em and material excitational waves. A number of examples of current interest are presented. These include sum- and difference-frequency generation, Raman scattering by coherent excitation, stimulated Raman and stimulated polariton scattering, four-wave mixing, and vibrational relaxation measurements. Finally, the physical distinction between laser emission and resonant stimulated Raman scattering in an optically pumped three-level system are considered. A similar problem on the distinction of hot luminescence and resonant Raman scattering has recently attracted much attention. It is shown that the hot laser action is connected directly with the population inversion, while the resonant stimulated Raman scattering is connected with transverse excitation. The problem is, however, more complicated for a multi-level system. (auth)

Optical Echo Holography, E. I. Shtyrkov