DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF OPTICAL STATES
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Bibliography
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
Knowledge of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. Having attended the quantum optics course is useful but not mandatory.
The final exam will be oral. The exam is aimed at verifying the acquisition of the general part of the course.
Students will be asked to go deeper into one of the course topics and discuss it during the exam.
The main objective is to provide the basis for understanding the mechanisms of operation of light detectors and the interpretation of measurement outcomes in order to obtain information on the relevant properties of optical states in the classical and quantum regimes. In particular, emphasis will be put on the measurement procedures of statistical properties and correlation of light. The most important results obtained from experimental quantum optics will also be discussed.
At the end of the course, the student is expected to have acquired the following knowledge:
1) Classical and quantum description of optical states
2) Classical and quantum description of the optical radiation measurement
3) Principles of operation of the main classes of light detectors
4) Direct and indirect measurement of light.
Light properties: models
Problem of measurement: semiclassical and quantum approaches
Characterization of optical states
Optical detectors
Optical detection schemes
Applications in the field of quantum optics
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Lesson notes and slides will be available at the end of each developed topic.
Some possible reference texts are:
- Morgan W. Mitchell, "Quantum Optics for the Impatient"
- M. Fox "Quantum Optics, An Introduction", Oxford, 2006.
- HAS. Bachor and T.C. Ralph "A Guide to Experiments in Quantum Optics" Wiley 2004
- "Single-Photon Generation and Detection Physics and Applications", in Experimental Methods in Physical Sciences, Vol. 45, Pages 1-562 (2013), Edited by Alan Migdall, Sergey V. Polyakov, Jingyun Fan and Joshua C. Bienfang
Supplemental material will be made available by the lecturer.
The course objectives will be achieved through frontal lectures for a total of 40 hours. The remaining 8 hours will be devoted to laboratory sessions and demonstrations of the operation of some detector classes.
Given the vastness of the subject and the lack of an exhaustive reference text, attending the course regularly is strongly recommended.
The student reception, after appointment by e-mail, will be at the Department of Science and Technology at Via Valleggio 11 in Como (3rd floor)