Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Field quantization -- Coherent states -- Emission and absorption of radiation by atoms -- Quantum coherence functions -- Beam splitters and interferometers -- Nonclassical Light -- Dissipative interactions and decoherence -- Optical test of quantum mechanics -- Experiments in cavity QED and with trapped ions -- Applications of entanglement: Heisenberg-limited interferometry and quantum information processing -- The density operator, entangled states, the Schmidt decomposition, and the Von Neumann entropy -- Quantum measurement theory in a (very small) nutshell -- Derivation of the effective Hamiltonian for dispersive (far off-resonant) interactions -- Nonlinear optics and spontaneous parametric down-conversion. Christopher C. Gerry, Peter L. Knight. Introductory Quantum Optics

"Quantum optics remains one of the liveliest fields in physics. While it has been a dominant research field for at least four decades, with much graduate activity, it has now impacted the undergraduate curriculum. This book developed from courses we have taught to final-year undergraduates and beginning graduate students at Imperial College London and City University of New York"-- Provided by publisher.