Atoms and Molecules Interacting with Light
Atomic Physics for the Laser Era

Focusing on atom-light interactions and containing numerous exercises, this in-depth textbook prepares students for research in a fast-growing field.

Peter van der Straten (Author), Harold Metcalf (Author)

9781107090149, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 February 2016

527 pages, 160 b/w illus. 31 tables
25.3 x 18 x 2.7 cm, 1.18 kg

'Two experienced pedagogues and researchers on laser cooling and trapping and quantum hydrodynamics have written a rigorous textbook for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. The work provides a comprehensive description of the fundamentals and of the awe-inspiring recent advances in atomic and molecular physics, such as the theory and the experimental techniques of Bose–Einstein condensation, laser cooling, and optical lattices. The authors point out common misconceptions in atomic physics, e.g. about 'virtual states', resonances, and the vector potential. Each chapter is augmented with supplementary materials and exercises which assess comprehension and further the understanding of the content. … Detailed tables and plots of experimental data permit the numerical calculation of physical parameters. The exact quantum mechanical solutions to a few physical problems are derived as well as the various useful approximations for atoms and molecules, and their limitations are clearly explained.' Barry R. Masters, Optics and Photonics News

This in-depth textbook with a focus on atom-light interactions prepares students for research in a fast-growing and dynamic field. Intended to accompany the laser-induced revolution in atomic physics, it is a comprehensive text for the emerging era in atomic, molecular and optical science. Utilising an intuitive and physical approach, the text describes two-level atom transitions, including appendices on Ramsey spectroscopy, adiabatic rapid passage and entanglement. With a unique focus on optical interactions, the authors present multi-level atomic transitions with dipole selection rules, and M1/E2 and multiphoton transitions. Conventional structure topics are discussed in some detail, beginning with the hydrogen atom and these are interspersed with material rarely found in textbooks such as intuitive descriptions of quantum defects. The final chapters examine modern applications and include many references to current research literature. The numerous exercises and multiple appendices throughout enable advanced undergraduate and graduate students to balance theory with experiment.

Part I. Atom-Light Interaction: 1. The classical physics pathway
Appendix 1A. Damping force on an accelerating charge
Appendix 1B. Hanle effect
Appendix 1C. Optical tweezers
2. Interaction of two-level atoms and light
Appendix 2A. Pauli matrices for motion of the bloch vector
Appendix 2B. The Ramsey method
Appendix 2C. Echoes and interferometry
Appendix 2D. Adiabatic rapid passage
Appendix 2E Superposition and entanglement
3. The atom-light interaction
Appendix 3A. Proof of the oscillator strength theorem
Appendix 3B. Electromagnetic fields
Appendix 3C. The dipole approximation
Appendix 3D. Time resolved fluorescence from multi-level atoms
4. 'Forbidden' transitions
Appendix 4A. Higher order approximations
5. Spontaneous emission
Appendix 5A. The quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator
Appendix 5B. Field quantization
Appendix 5C. Alternative theories to QED
6. The density matrix
Appendix 6A. The Liouville–von Neumann equation
Part II. Internal Structure: 7. The hydrogen atom
Appendix 7A. Center-of-mass motion
Appendix 7B. Coordinate systems
Appendix 7C. Commuting operators
Appendix 7D. Matrix elements of the radial wavefunctions
8. Fine structure
Appendix 8A. The Sommerfeld fine-structure constant
Appendix 8B. Measurements of the fine structure 9. Effects of the nucleus
Appendix 9A. Interacting magnetic dipoles
Appendix 9B. Hyperfine structure for two spin =2 particles
Appendix 9C. The hydrogen maser
10. The alkali-metal atoms
Appendix 10A. Quantum defects for the alkalis
Appendix 10B. Numerov method
11. Atoms in magnetic fields
Appendix 11A. The ground state of atomic hydrogen
Appendix 11B. Positronium
Appendix 11C. The non-crossing theorem
Appendix 11D. Passage through an anticrossing: Landau–Zener transitions
12. Atoms in electric fields
13. Rydberg atoms
14. The helium atom
Appendix 14A. Variational calculations
Appendix 14B. Detail on the variational calculations of the ground state
15. The periodic system of the elements
Appendix 15A. Paramagnetism
Appendix 15B. The color of gold
16. Molecules
Appendix 16A. Morse potential
17. Binding in the hydrogen molecule
Appendix 17A. Confocal elliptical coordinates
Appendix 17B. One-electron two-center integrals
Appendix 17C. Electron-electron interaction in molecular hydrogen
18. Ultra-cold chemistry
Part III. Applications: 19. Optical forces and laser cooling
20. Confinement of neutral atoms
21. Bose–Einstein condensation
Appendix 21A. Distribution functions
Appendix 21B. Density of states
22. Cold molecules
23. Three level systems
Appendix 23A. General case for _1 , _2
24. Fundamental physics
Part IV. Appendices: Appendix A. Notation and definitions
Appendix B. Units and notation
Appendix C. Angular momentum in quantum mechanics
Appendix D. Transition strengths
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Atomic & molecular physics [PHM], Optical physics [PHJ], Physics [PH]