Product Description

Most previous texts on quantum optics have been written primarily for the graduate student market at PhD level and above. Quantum optics: an introduction aims to introduce a wide range of topics at a lower level suitable for advanced undergraduate and Masters level students in physics. The text is divided into four main parts, covering modern topics in both pure and applied quantum optics: I. Introduction and background material. II. Photons. III. Atom-photon interactions. IV. Quantum information processing. The emphasis of the subject development is on intuitive physical understanding rather than mathematical arguments, although many derivations are included where appropriate. The text includes numerous illustrations, with a particular emphasis on the experimental observations of quantum optical phenomena. Each chapter includes worked examples, together with 10-15 exercises with solutions. Six appendices are included to supplement the main subject material.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #115563 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
'Fox has done a remarkable job at picking the key topics from a broad field. A genuinely interesting experiment in undergraduate education could be put together on the basis of Fox's textbook.' Physics Today, September 2007

This is a modern text on quantum optics for advanced undergraduate students. It provides explanations based primarily on intuitive physical understanding, rather than mathematical derivations. The book also includes worked examples and exercises. (CERN Courier )

About the Author
Dr A M Fox is Reader in Physics, Dept of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK.

Customer Reviews

Thankyou Mark Fox for making Quantum Optics accessible and enjoyable!
I wish this book had been published when I first started as a grad student! Instead there was Loudon's "The Quantum Theory of Light" and Marlan Scully's "Quantum Optics" - both excellent books, but both lose sight of the fundamental physics, and do not really bridge the gap between most physics degrees and the subtle mathematical world of quantum optics. This is a book which really introduces the subject from a concise fundamental physics footing, taking into account that new grad students are not experts in the field - it is enough work for some students to come to terms with a lot of new mathematics, let alone try and understand where many physical approximations creep in - some quantum optics lectures simply introduce expressions without explanation, and this book seems to answer most of them.

A case in point is the quantum treatment of the Hanbury Brown-Twiss experiment, where in the treatement of one of the beamsplitter output ports, a subtraction appears. This book is the only place where I've clearly seen sufficient explanation, in a margin note, that this arises through conservation of energy (actually you are not handed this on a plate, but given a guided problem that shows how it arises, which is a good idea).

And here lies the only complaint about the book, that it uses margin notes. It might sound a strange complaint, perhaps its just me being stupid, but if you've spent a few years reading books and papers where you're used to scanning through single column blocks of text for a vital bit of information, your eyes don't immediately notice an off-set, small block of margin text (in small font, so it looks like a figure caption). A few times I've been caught out searching for explanations in the main body of the text, only to realise after much head scratching that its in the margin notes!

In all, I find this the best book I've ever read - it makes quantum optics enjoyable, simply because of the grass-roots physics. Not everybody in quantum optics is a theorist, some people actually have to do experiments, which is the hardest part of quantum optics.

Thankyou Mark Fox for making Quantum Optics accessible and enjoyable to all!