Quantum Processes and Measurement Theory and Experiment

This accessible and self-contained text presents the essential theoretical techniques developed to describe quantum processes, alongside a detailed review of the devices and experimental methods required in quantum measurement. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students seeking to extend their knowledge of the physics underlying quantum technologies, the book develops a thorough understanding of quantum measurement theory, quantum processes and the evolution of quantum states. A wide range of basic quantum systems are discussed, including atoms, ions, photons, and more complex macroscopic quantum devices such as opto-mechanical systems and superconducting circuits. Quantum phenomena are also covered in detail, from entanglement and quantum jumps, to quantum fluctuations in optical systems. Numerous problems at the end of each chapter problems enable the reader to consolidate key theoretical concepts and to develop their understanding of the most widely-used experimental techniques.

Introduction; 1. Experiment: detecting single quantum objects; 2. Description of quantum systems in terms of density matrix; 3. Experiment: quantum processes; 4. Evolution; 5. Measurement; 6. Experiment: bipartite systems; 7. Entanglement; 8. Experiment: continuous quantum fluctuations; 9. Continuous variable systems; 10. Experiment: parameter estimation; 11. Theory: parameter estimation; Appendix A. Basic postulates of quantum mechanics; Appendix B. Generalized postulates of quantum mechanics; Appendix C. Description of composite systems; Appendix D. Qubits; Appendix E. Quantum particle; Appendix F. Quantum electromagnetic field; Appendix G. Interaction between light and atoms; Appendix H. Interaction between light beams and linear optical media; Appendix I. Interaction between light beams and nonlinear optical media; Appendix J. Optomechanics; Appendix K. Basics of circuit quantum electrodynamics; Bibliography; Index.

Claude Fabre is Emeritus Professor in Physics at Sorbonne University at the Kastler–Brossel Laboratory in Paris, and has made pioneering contributions within the field of quantum optics, especially concerning the manipulation of quantum fluctuations and correlations in light and quantum parameter estimation. He is Fellow of the Optical Society of America and an honorary member of the Institut Universitaire de France. He was awarded the Grand Prix Léon Brillouin. He co-authored the successful textbook Introduction to Quantum Optics (2010) with Gilbert Grynberg and Alain Aspect.