Interactions of Light with Matter

David W. Ball

E. Garmire

Topics in Photonics.- Properties and Description of Light.- Linear Interactions between Light and Matter.- Nonlinear Interactions of Light and Matter without Absorption.- Nonlinear Interactions of Light and Matter with Absorption.- Lasers.- Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy.- References.

Galina A. Nemova

"The interaction of light and matter has long history. It evolved from the ancient corpuscular theory, to wave theory, and finally to the quantum theory. Matter is composed of charged particles, among them positively charged nucleus surrounded by electrons that are in motion. Light is an oscillating electromagnetic wave. But light is also particles (photons). The primary objective of this Field Guide to Light-Matter Interaction is to provide the reader with the basic principles of light and matter interaction using classical, semiclassical, and quantum theories. Within this Field Guide, you will find formulae and descriptions of phenomena that are fundamental for an understanding of the present state of the art of light-matter interaction"--

Wei Qin, Anton Frisk Kockum, Carlos Sánchez Muñoz +2 more

The interaction of light and matter at the single-photon level is of central importance in various fields of physics, including, e.g., condensed matter physics, astronomy, quantum optics, and quantum information. Amplification of such quantum light–matter interaction can be highly beneficial to, e.g., improve device performance, explore novel phenomena, and understand fundamental physics, and has therefore been a long-standing goal. Furthermore, simulation of light–matter interaction in the regime of ultrastrong coupling, where the interaction strength is comparable to the bare frequencies of the uncoupled systems, has also become a hot research topic, and considerable progress has been made both theoretically and experimentally in the past decade. In this review, we provide a detailed introduction of recent advances in amplification of quantum light–matter interaction and simulation of ultrastrong light–matter interaction, particularly in cavity and circuit quantum electrodynamics and in cavity optomechanics.