Trends in Quantum Optics
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Trends in Quantum Optics∗ A Personal Perspective Subhashish Banerjee and Arun M Jayannavar
Here, we review some of the recent developments in quantum optics. After a brief introduction to the historical development of the subject, we discuss some of the modern aspects of quantum optics including atom field interactions, quantum state engineering, metamaterials and plasmonics, optomechanical systems, PT (parity-time) symmetry in quantum optics, as well as, quasi-probability distributions and quantum state tomography. Further, the recent developments in topological photonics is briefly discussed. The potent role of the subject in the development of our understanding of quantum physics and modern technologies is highlighted.
Subhashish Banerjee is a physicist at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur. His major interest is in the field of open quantum systems and also works in the
1. Introduction
fields of quantum field theory, quantum optics, and quantum information.
Light is intimately connected to the existence of all forms of life. The systematic study of light is known as ‘optics’ and could be traced historically to [1]. The notion of light as an electromagnetic field was made clear by Maxwell, resulting in his celebrated work on what is now known as Maxwell equations. He showed that electromagnetic fields in vacuum propagate at the speed of light. The next step in the history of this subject were the questions raised by the Michelson–Morley experiment and the Rayleigh–Jeans catastrophe associated with black-body radiation. The former lead to the development of the special theory of relativity and the later to Planck’s resolution, which provided the first seeds for the field of quantum mechanics. The notion of photon, essentially considering it as a particle, was first realized in Einstein’s work on the photoelectric effect.
Arun M Jayannavar is a senior scientist at Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar. He is interested in general condensed matter physics and emergent phenomena.
Keywords Quantum optics, metamaterials, plasmonics, optomechanical systems, parity-time symmetry.
A large number of phenomena, related to optics, could be ex∗
Vol.25, No.11, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-020-1075-y
RESONANCE | November 2020
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GENERAL ARTICLE
plained by invoking the concept of photons involving a classical electromagnetic field along with vacuum fluctuations. It was soon realized, in the wake of experimental developments that to understand the full potential of the photon, one needs to treat it quantum mechanically. This lead to the development of the quantum theory of radiation, which in turn, was the precursor to quantum optics [2]. The photon provides an example of a simple quantum state labelled by, say, its horizontal and vertical polarizations as:
|ψi = c1 |Hi + c2 |Vi .
In quantum mechanics, we deal with operators characterizing the observables. For example, energy is represented by the operator Hˆ called the Hamiltonian of the system. Experiments typically involve making measurements of t
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