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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Atomic and Optical Physics I

Massachusetts Institute of Technology via MIT OpenCourseWare

Overview

This is the first of a two-semester subject sequence that provides the foundations for contemporary research in selected areas of atomic and optical physics. Topics covered include the interaction of radiation with atoms: resonance; absorption, stimulated and spontaneous emission; methods of resonance, dressed atom formalism, masers and lasers, cavity quantum electrodynamics; structure of simple atoms, behavior in very strong fields; fundamental tests: time reversal, parity violations, Bell's inequalities; and experimental methods.

Syllabus

1. Resonance I.
2. Resonance II.
3. Resonance III.
4. Resonance IV.
5. Resonance V and Atoms I.
6. Atoms II.
7. Atoms III.
8. Atoms IV.
9. Atoms V and Atoms in External Fields I.
10. Atoms in External Fields II.
11. Atoms in External Fields III.
12. Atoms in External Fields IV and Atom-light Interactions I.
13. Atom-light Interactions II.
14. Atom-light Interactions III.
15. Atom-light Interactions IV.
16. Atom-light Interactions V.
17. Atom-light Interactions VI and Line Broadening I.
18. Line Broadening II.
19. Line Broadening III.
20. Line Broadening IV and Two-photon Excitation I.
21. Two-photon Excitation II and Coherence I.
22. Coherence II.
23. Coherence III.
24. Coherence IV.
25. Coherence V.

Taught by

Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle

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