This volume continues the tradition of the Advances series. It contains contributions from experts in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics. The articles contain some review material, but are intended to provide a comprehensive picture of recent important developments in AMO physics. Both theoretical and experimental articles are included in the volume. International experts Comprehensive articles New developments

This book presents a comprehensive overview of the spectacular advances seen in atomic physics during the last 50 years. The authors explain how such progress was possible by highlighting connections between developments that occurred at different times. They discuss the new perspectives and the new research fields that look promising. The emphasis is placed, not on detailed calculations, but rather on physical ideas. Combining both theoretical and experimental considerations, the book will be of interest to a wide range of students, teachers and researchers in quantum and atomic physics.Contents: General IntroductionGeneral Background"Light: A Source of Information on Atoms: "Optical MethodsLinear Superpositions of Internal Atomic StatesResonance FluorescenceAdvances in High Resolution Spectroscopy"Atom-Photon Interactions: A Source of Perturbations forAtoms Which Can Be Useful: "Perturbations Due to a Quasi Resonant Optical ExcitationPerturbations Due to a High Frequency Excitation"Atom-Photon Interactions: A Simple System for Studying Higher Order Effects: "Multiphoton Processes Between Discrete StatesPhotoionization of Atoms in Intense Laser fields"Atom-Photon Interactions: A Tool for Controlling and Manipulating Atomic Motion: "Radiative Forces Exerted on a Two-Level Atom at RestLaser Cooling of Two-Level AtomsSub-Doppler Cooling. Sub-Recoil CoolingTrapping of Particles"Ultracold Interactions and Their Control: "Two-Body Interactions at Low TemperaturesControlling Atom-Atom Interactions"Exploring Quantum Interferences with Few Atoms and Photons: "Interference of Atomic de Broglie WavesRamsey Fringes Revisited and Atomic InterferometryQuantum Correlations. Entangled States"Degenerate Quantum Gases: "Emergence of Quantum Effects in a GasThe Long Quest for Bose-Einstein CondensationMean Field Description of a Bose-Einstein CondensateCoherence Properties of Bose-Einstein CondensatesElementary Excitations and Superfluidity in Bose-Einstein Condensates"Frontiers of Atomic Physics: "Testing Fundamental Symmetries. Parity Violation in AtomsQuantum Gases as Simple Systems for Many-Body PhysicsExtreme LightGeneral Conclusion Readership: Graduate students, researchers and academics interested in quantum and atomic physics.

This book is primarily intended to accompany an advanced undergraduate course in atomic physics. However, the elementary atomic physics covered in the early chapters should be accessible to undergraduates when they are first introduced to the subject. The book describes some of the latest advances and the applications to Bose-Einstein condensation of atoms, matter-wave interferometry and quantum computing with trapped ions. To complement the usual quantum mechanical treatment of atomic structure the book strongly emphasizes the experimental basis of the subject, especially in the later chapters.

This is the first volume of textbooks on atomic, molecular and optical physics, aiming at a comprehensive presentation of this highly productive branch of modern physics as an indispensable basis for many areas in physics and chemistry as well as in state of the art bio- and material-sciences. It primarily addresses advanced students (including PhD students), but in a number of selected subject areas the reader is lead up to the frontiers of present research. Thus even the active scientist is addressed. This volume 1 provides the canonical knowledge in atomic physics together with basics of modern spectroscopy. Starting from the fundamentals of quantum physics, the reader is familiarized in well structured chapters step by step with the most important phenomena, models and measuring techniques. The emphasis is always on the experiment and its interpretation, while the necessary theory is introduced from this perspective in a compact and occasionally somewhat heuristic manner, easy to follow even for beginners.

This book discusses many advances in optical physics and is intended mainly for experimentalists. The interaction of electromagnetic radiation with free atoms is introduced using classical or semi-classical calculations wherever possible. Topics discussed include the spontaneous emission of radiation, and atomic beam magnetic resonance experiments.

This comprehensive volume surveys the general aspects of atomic cluster science and outlines some of its important new challenges. It begins by detailing the recent advances in the understanding of structure and the essential properties of selected atomic cluster systems, fullerenes and confined atoms. Recent advances in the field of photo processes involving atomic clusters and fullerenes are discussed, and an entire chapter is devoted to the problem of fission dynamics of atomic clusters, presenting parallels with similar processes in nuclear physics.The book goes on to describe the problems of electron-cluster collisions with special emphasis on polarization and collective excitation effects. The important area of the behavior of atomic clusters in laser fields is considered; the ionization, collective dynamics of electrons in the system in the presence of the laser field, and the laser induced dynamics of molecules and clusters are thoroughly described.Finally, a broad spectrum of problems in the area of ionic collisions with fullerenes and metal clusters is covered — from both experimental and theoretical points of view — and the results of the most recent measurements are reported. The concluding chapter takes a careful look at the interaction of an atomic cluster with a surface. The problems of cluster deposition and formation at a surface as well as collision processes involving clusters deposited at a surface are considered through a number of illustrative examples./a