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SPIE eBooks

Field Guide to Light-Matter Interaction

Galina A. Nemova

Published Mar 23, 2022• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

"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"--

DOI
10.1117/3.2611513

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Modern attempts to understand light go back to Newton who considered light to be particles, the so called corpuscular theory, and the other school of Huygens, Young and others. Huygens and Young viewpoint emphasised the wave property. This difference of opinions persisted for close to two centuries till Maxwell theory solidly established light as a wave phenomenon associated with Electromagnetism. A serious schism so to speak was introduced into the theory of light with the understanding of "Light gas", the so called Black Body radiation. Einstein's photon hypothesis and Bose's successful derivation of the Planck spectrum put the corpuscular theory back in place, while classical description continues to be used as well. One may then wonder if this being a classical limit may have to be corrected when dealing with quantum phenomena. To most people's surprise, the classical description was in fact a subset of the full quantum description, and the classical states of light could be shown to be subsumed within the fully quantum description without having to take the limit of Planck's constant h going to zero. This was the resolution provided by E. C. G. Sudarshan's Diagonal representation as the most general formalism for dealing with light.

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CRC Press eBooks•Sep 23, 2026•0 citations
"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"--
The study of light through the centuries has produced a number of theories and experiments. Newton advanced the corpuscular theory, building on the early Greek view of matter composed of atoms. Then Young essentially proved the wave nature of light through the interference experiments. Maxwell provided the firm theoretical basis for the wave nature. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, further experiments showed predictions based on a continuous wave led to the well-known ultraviolet catastrophe. Plank and Einstein originated and developed the notion of the photon as an elementary quantum of propagating electromagnetic (EM) energy. The first half of the 20th century saw the development of the field quantization and the quantum electrodynamics (QED). Feynmann labeled QED as ‘‘the best theory we have’’ to describe the matter-light interaction. The second half of the 20th century witnessed the development of the coherent and squeezed optical states attributable to Glauber and Yuen. The study of light and electromagnetic fields has a long history. This chapter explores the nature of light in terms of quantum optics.
The behavior of light and its interaction with matter is certainly one of the most interesting phenomena of physics. It has puzzled thinkers and scientists in ancient Greece (Archimedes) and through the Middle Ages, at least since the times of Robert Grosseteste (1168–1235), right up to the theories of Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton. The classical electromagnetic theory of light (see Tab. 13.1) was beautifully established in the second half of the nineteenth century with the Maxwell equations. Quantum optics is nothing other than the quantum theory of light. It finds its roots in Planck's discovery (1900) that the assumption of energy quantization for a harmonic oscillator allowed us to solve the black-body problem (see Subsec. 1.5.1). The successive early steps that led to the quantization of the electromagnetic field include Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect with the introduction of the quantum of light (see Subsec. 1.2.1) and the interpretation of atomic spectra (see Subsec. 1.5.4). Quantum optics is usually not covered by conventional textbooks on quantum mechanics. We include its discussion here for two main reasons: first, because it is a fundamental and advanced application of the basic framework of quantum mechanics, and, second, because in the last 30 years quantum optics has played (and is still playing) a major role in the advancement and understanding of quantum mechanics.
Modern attempts to understand light go back to Newton who considered light to be particles, the so called corpuscular theory, and the other school of Huygens, Young and others. Huygens and Young viewpoint emphasised the wave property. This difference of opinions persisted for close to two centuries till Maxwell theory solidly established light as a wave phenomenon associated with Electromagnetism. A serious schism so to speak was introduced into the theory of light with the understanding of "Light gas", the so called Black Body radiation. Einstein's photon hypothesis and Bose's successful derivation of the Planck spectrum put the corpuscular theory back in place, while classical description continues to be used as well. One may then wonder if this being a classical limit may have to be corrected when dealing with quantum phenomena. To most people's surprise, the classical description was in fact a subset of the full quantum description, and the classical states of light could be shown to be subsumed within the fully quantum description without having to take the limit of Planck's constant h going to zero. This was the resolution provided by E. C. G. Sudarshan's Diagonal representation as the most general formalism for dealing with light.
This textbook provides an accessible introduction to laser physics, exploring three key questions: What is special about laser light? What is the physics underlying its generation? And how can laser light be manipulated and used? The material is presented in a manner that helps the reader develop an understanding of the underlying physics principles and processes without getting bogged down in mathematical details, but there is enough mathematics for the understanding to be quantitative. The book begins by describing the special properties of laser light and focuses on the physics of light-matter interaction to understand how it acquires them. It builds upon Maxwells equations for light and the classical electron oscillator model for the atoms, augmented with a quantum mechanical picture of atomic energy levels, to provide an accurate physical understanding of light-matter interaction. This approach bypasses the need for a course in quantum theory. Derivations of key equations are included not only to help readers follow the development of the subject, but also to illustrate that to approximate, simplify, and get analytic results is integral to understanding any complex phenomenon. Subjects such as nonlinear pulse propagation and nonlinear optics are discussed, but only at a level that should help readers to get started in these fields. The choice of topics has been limited to atomic/molecular lasers to allow for their coverage in one semester-long course. Problems, references and illustrations are included throughout the book, making it an ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate physics and engineering students. Students do not require prior knowledge of physics much beyond an undergraduate-level introduction to electromagnetic theory, including Maxwell’s equations, polarization in atomic media and electromagnetic wave propagation. Key features: · Provides a qualitative and quantitative understanding of, and appreciation for, the special properties of laser light · Explores quantum statistics of laser light · Presents an analytical approach to pulse formation