Optically Polarized Atoms

Understanding light-atom interactions

Marcis Auzinsh, Dmitry Budker, and Simon Rochester

In-depth textbook written in an easy, accessible style.
Relates to modern research.
Richly illustrated, with numerous examples.
Comes with a software package, animated illustrations, and materials for instructors.
Tested in the classroom over many years at Berkeley, Riga, and at Bar Ilan (Israel).

Optically Polarized Atoms

Understanding light-atom interactions

Marcis Auzinsh, Dmitry Budker, and Simon Rochester

Description

Optically Polarized Atoms is addressed at upper-level undergraduate and graduate students involved in research in atomic, molecular, and optical Physics. It will also be useful to researchers practicing in this field. It gives an intuitive, yet sufficiently detailed and rigorous introduction to light-atom interactions with a particular emphasis on the symmetry aspects of the interaction, especially those associated with the angular momentum of atoms and light. The book will enable readers to carry out practical calculations on their own, and is richly illustrated with examples drawn from current research topics, such as resonant nonlinear magneto-optical effects. The book comes with a software package for a variety of atomic-physics calculations and further interactive examples that is freely downloadable from the book's web page, as well as additional materials (such as power-point presentations) available to instructors who adopt the text for their courses.

Optically Polarized Atoms

Understanding light-atom interactions

Marcis Auzinsh, Dmitry Budker, and Simon Rochester

I: INTRODUCTION TO LIGHT-ATOM INTERACTIONS
1. Introduction
2. Atomic States
3. A bit of angular-momentum theory
4. Atoms in external electric and magnetic fields
5. Polarized atoms
6. Polarized light
7. Atomic transitions
8. Coherence in atomic systems
9. Optical pumping
10. Light-atom interaction observed in transmitted light
II: ADVANCED TOPICS
11. Nonlinear magneto-optical rotation
12. Perturbative analysis of light-atom interactions
13. Polarization effects in transitions with partially resolved hyperfine structure
14. The effect of hyperfine splitting on nonlinear magneto-optical rotation
15. Spectral properties of excitation light; ground-state coherence effects revisited
16. Collapse and revival in quantum beats
17. Nuclear quadrupole resonance and alignment-to-orientation conversion
18. Selective addressing of high-rank polarization moments
19. Tensor structure of the DC- and AC-Stark polarizabilities
20. Photoionization of polarized atoms with polarized light
Appendix A - Constants, units and notations
Appendix B - Units of energy, frequency and wavelength
Appendix C - Reference data for hydrogen and the alkali atoms
Appendix D - Nonlinear magneto-optical rotation with hyperfine structure
Appendix E - The Atomic Density Matrix software package

Optically Polarized Atoms

Understanding light-atom interactions

Marcis Auzinsh, Dmitry Budker, and Simon Rochester

Author Information

Marcis Auzinsh is the Rector of the University of Latvia, where he was previously Chairman of the Senate, Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, and Head of Center of Excellence for Basic Research in Nanoscale Physics and Application. He has held visiting positions at universities around the world, and is a Member of Executive Commitee of the European Physical Society.

Dmitry Budker took his PhD at the University of California at Berkeley, where he won the 1994 American Physical Society Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Atomic, Molecular, or Optical Physics. He is now a Professor of Physics there. In 2005 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and in 2009 became a American Physical Society Outstanding Referee.

Simon M. Rochester is a Graduate Student Researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, where he holds a NASA Earth System Science Fellowship.

Optically Polarized Atoms

Understanding light-atom interactions

Marcis Auzinsh, Dmitry Budker, and Simon Rochester

Reviews and Awards

"This is an excellent undergraduate textbook which provides a modern treatment of atom-light interactions from an experimentalist's perspective. I recommend this book to any student who aims for a deep understanding of the concepts in atomic physics and how to apply them to current research topics." --Dieter Jaksch, University of Oxford

"Many modern atomic physics experiments use subtle effects of atom-light interactions, be they the destructive interference associated with coherent superpositons, or the dynamics of optical pumping, or alignment to orientation conversion. Having such topics discussed in a coherent theoretical framework provides an excellent resource." --Ifan Hughes, Durham University

"I highly recommend Optically Polarized Atoms and will probably use it next time I teach my graduate course. ... The book is specifically intended for use in a one-semester course in which the symmetry and angular-momentum aspects of atomic structure and laser-atom interactions are central. ... The level of detail and the clarity of explanations are admirable." --Daniel F. V. James, Physics Today

"The recently published book Optically Polarized Atoms by Marcis Auzinsh, Dmitry Budker and Simon M. Rochester will be a unique and valuable addition to the library of anyone - students or established researchers... It provides a rich mine of information about atomic physics that is hard to find elsewhere. I intend to keep a copy on my shelf of favorite physics books." --William Happer, Princeton University