Università Roma Tre

The physics of laser: blackbody radiation, Einstein equation, interaction of light with a two-level atom, gain and attenuation. Optical transitions in semiconductors. CW and pulsed operation of a laser.

Optical coherence and quantisation of the e.m. field: classical theory of fluctuations, first- and second-order coherence. E.m. field as a harmonic oscillator, quantisation and quantum theory of optical coherence. Number states, coherent states, and thermal states. Interaction picture: beam splitter and squeezing hamiltonians. Homodyne detection and photon counting. Quasi-probability distributions.

Non-linear optics: introduction and classical treatment. Brief sketching of the quantum treatment. Second-order non-linear effects: second-harmonic generation, sum- and difference-frequency generation, parametric down conversion. Third-order effects: optical Kerr effect and self-phase modulation, filamentation. Nonlinear Schroedinger equation and temporal solitons.

Quantum correlations: local realism and EPR-Bohm paradox. Bell's inequality, and its optical test.

R. Loudon, The quantum theory of light.
O. Svelto, Principles of lasers.
R. Boyd, Nonlinear optics.
J.S. Bell, Speakable and unspeakable in quantum mechanics.