There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Coherent preparation by laser light of quantum states of atoms and molecules can lead to quantum interference in the amplitudes of optical transitions. In this way the optical properties of a medium can be dramatically modified, leading to electromagnetically induced transparency and related effects, which have placed gas-phase systems at the center of recent advances in the development of media with radically new optical properties. This article reviews these advances and the new possibilities they offer for nonlinear optics and quantum information science. As a basis for the theory of electromagnetically induced transparency the authors consider the atomic dynamics and the optical response of the medium to a continuous-wave laser. They then discuss pulse propagation and the adiabatic evolution of field-coupled states and show how coherently prepared media can be used to improve frequency conversion in nonlinear optical mixing experiments. The extension of these concepts to very weak optical fields in the few-photon limit is then examined. The review concludes with a discussion of future prospects and potential new applications.

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Electromagnetically induced transparency : Optics in coherent media

This paper has two purposes: 1) to clarify the relationship between the quantum theory of radiation, where the electromagnetic field-expansion coefficients satisfy commutation relations, and the semiclassical theory, where the electromagnetic field is considered as a definite function of time rather than as an operator; and 2) to apply some of the results in a study of amplitude and frequency stability in a molecular beam maser. In 1), it is shown that the semiclassical theory, when extended te take into account both the effect of the field on the molecules and the effect of the molecules on the field, reproduces almost quantitatively the same laws of energy exchange and coherence properties as the quantized field theory, even in the limit of one or a few quanta in the field mode. In particular, the semiclassical theory is shown to lead to a prediction of spontaneous emission, with the same decay rate as given by quantum electrodynamics, described by the Einstein A coefficients. In 2), the semiclassical theory is applied to the molecular beam maser. Equilibrium amplitude and frequency of oscillation are obtained for an arbitrary velocity distribution of focused molecules, generalizing the results obtained previously by Gordon, Zeiger, and Townes for a singel-velocity beam, and by Lamb and Helmer for a Maxwellian beam. A somewhat surprising result is obtained; which is that the measurable properties of the maser, such as starting current, effective molecular Q, etc., depend mostly on the slowest 5 to 10 per cent of the molecules. Next we calculate the effect of amplitude and frequency of oscillation, of small systematic perturbations. We obtain a prediction that stability can be improved by adjusting the system so that the molecules emit all their energy h Ω to the field, then reabsorb part of it, before leaving the cavity. In general, the most stable operation is obtained when the molecules are in the process of absorbing energy from the radiation as they leave the cavity, most unstable when they are still emitting energy at that time. Finally, we consider the response of an oscillating maser to randomly time-varying perturbations. Graphs are given showing predicted response to a small superimposed signal of a frequency near the oscillation frequency. The existence of "noise enhancing" and "noise quieting" modes of operation found here is a general property of any oscillating system in which amplitude is limited by nonlinearity.

Comparison of quantum and semiclassical radiation theories with application to the beam maser

Recent advances in the field of nonlinear optical phenomena are reviewed with particular empphasis placed on such topics as parametric oscillation self-focusing and trapping of laser beams, and stimulated Raman, Rayleigh, and Brillouin scattering. The optical frequency radiation is treated classically in terms of the amplitudes and phases of the electromagnetic fields. The interactions of light waves in a mterial are then formulated in terms of Maxwell's equations and the electric dipole approximation. In this method, non-linear susceptibility tensors are introdueed which relate the induced dipole moment to a power series expansion in field strengths. The tensor nature and the frequency dependence of the nonlinearity coefficients are considered. The various experimental, observations are described and interpreted in terms of this formalism.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/5/31089/01447053.pdf

Nonlinear optics

The status of experimental tests of general relativity and of theoretical frameworks for analyzing them is reviewed and updated. Einstein’s equivalence principle (EEP) is well supported by experiments such as the Eotvos experiment, tests of local Lorentz invariance and clock experiments. Ongoing tests of EEP and of the inverse square law are searching for new interactions arising from unification or quantum gravity. Tests of general relativity at the post-Newtonian level have reached high precision, including the light deflection, the Shapiro time delay, the perihelion advance of Mercury, the Nordtvedt effect in lunar motion, and frame-dragging. Gravitational wave damping has been detected in an amount that agrees with general relativity to better than half a percent using the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar, and a growing family of other binary pulsar systems is yielding new tests, especially of strong-field effects. Current and future tests of relativity will center on strong gravity and gravitational waves.

/pdf/the-confrontation-between-general-relativity-and-experiment-5dqdube5p9.pdf

The Confrontation Between General Relativity and Experiment

We discuss visibility data and its analysis for 15 late-type stars observed with the U. C. Berkeley Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI). The ISI is a two-element heterodyne interferometer operating in the 9- to 12-micrometers wavelength region and is located at Mt. Wilson. Visibility curves were calculated using a radiative transfer model and compared with the visibility data from the ISI. A (chi) 2 fitting procedure has been used to estimate the inner radii of the dust shells, optical depths at 11 micrometers , and the temperature at the inner radii. For stars in which the dust is completely resolved estimates of the stellar diameter and temperature can also be made. We present preliminary visibility data for the stars NML Cyg and IRC +10420 obtained recently using a 10-m baseline. In addition, we present preliminary recent data and analysis for the six stars, alpha Ori, omicron Cet, IRC +10216, R Leo, VY CMA, and R Aqr using a 32-m baseline. The visibility data for alpha Ori covers a sufficient range of spatial frequencies to make a determination of its diameter. Within a 95% confidence interval we obtain a diameter of 0".053+/- 0".003. For the other stars the recent 32-m baseline data are compared with previous models and further constrains some of their parameters.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Analysis of visibility data from the University of California/Berkeley Infrared Spatial Interferometer: radiative transfer modeling and results on fifteen stars

The sizes and shapes of the stars o Ceti and R Leonis have been measured in the mid-infrared. The observations were made using the UC Berkeley Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI), and they reveal details about the size, shape and asymmetry of both stars over several epochs in 2006. The star o Ceti appears to be rather symmetric, while the shape of R Leonis appears more consistent with a uniform disk plus a point source that provides approximately 9% additional intensity somewhere in the southern half of the star.

Charles H. Townes

Papers

Analysis of visibility data from the University of California/Berkeley Infrared Spatial Interferometer: radiative transfer modeling and results on fifteen stars

The Evolving Shapes of o Ceti and R Leonis

THE SPIN OF O$sup 1$$sup 8$

Spectroscopy at Radio and Microwave Frequencies. D. J. E. Ingram. Philosophical Library, New York, 1956. 332 pp. Illus. $15.

Ammonia in Dark Interstellar Clouds