Quantum optics

These lectures are aimed to provide building blocks to understand and model the elementary components of light (photons), light matter-interaction at the single photon level, and elements of quantum communication and information processing with single photons.

Chapter 1: Julien Claudon 12h
Quantification of the free electromagnetic field
Basic recalls of electromagnetism.
Quantification, analogy with the harmonic oscillator.
Photons (energy, momentum).
Field representations (quadrature, Wigner function).
Fock states (in particular vacuum state).
Quasi-classical states, classical limit.
Squeezed states.
Atom-field interaction, Optical Bloch equations
Recalls: Light-matter interaction Hamiltonian.
Spontaneous emission.
Classical Rabi oscillation.
Recalls: density operator, Bloch sphere.
Optical Bloch equations.
Resonant fluorescence.
Cavity quantum electrodynamics
Optical cavity (Q,V).
Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian.
Weak coupling regime: Purcell effect.
Strong coupling regime: single-photon Rabi oscillation.
Jaynes-Cummings ladder (non-linearity).
Collective effects (superradiance).

Chapter 2: Cyril Branciard 6h
Entanglement, Bell’s inequalities.
Quantum cryptography (BB84, Ekert protocol), quantum teleportation.
Quantum repeaters, entanglement distribution, quantum networks.

Chapter 3: Hugo Zbinden 6h
State of the Art of QKD and future prospects, Quantum Random Number . Generation, State of the Art Single Photon Counting for Quantum Communication,…
Published on February 26, 2021
Updated on June 5, 2021