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Exploring the Quantum: Atoms, Cavities, and Photons

Serge Haroche and Jean-Michel Raimond
Published in print: 2006 Published Online: Publisher: Oxford University Press
January 2010 DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780198509141 eISBN: 9780191708626 acprof:oso/9780198509141.001.0001
Item type: book

The counter-intuitive aspects of quantum physics have been illustrated

for some time by thought experiments, from Einstein's photon box
to Schrdinger's cat. These experiments have now become real, with
single particles electrons, atoms or photons directly unveiling the
weird features of the quantum. State superpositions, entanglement and
complementarity define a novel quantum logic that can be harnessed
for information processing, raising great hopes for applications. This
book describes a class of such thought experiments made real. Juggling
with atoms and photons confined in cavities, ions or cold atoms in
traps, provides an incentive to shed a new light on the basic concepts
of quantum physics. Measurement processes and decoherence at the
quantum-classical boundary are highlighted.

Strangeness and power of the quantum

Serge Haroche and Jean-Michel Raimond

in Exploring the Quantum: Atoms, Cavities, and Photons

Published in print: 2006 Published Online: Publisher: Oxford University Press
January 2010 DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780198509141 eISBN: 9780191708626 acprof:oso/9780198509141.003.0002
Item type: chapter

This chapter describes the non-classical aspects of the quantum theory.

The strangeness of the quantum can be traced back to the superposition
principle rooted in the linearity of quantum theory. Section 2.1 recalls
how this principle conditions the properties of the wave function of
a quantum particle. Section 2.2 discusses the ubiquitous quantum
interference phenomenon and its relations with complementarity. Section
2.3 is about the subtleties of the superposition principle when applied
to a system of identical particles. Section 2.4 shows that entanglement
is a direct consequence of the superposition principle applied to

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composite systems. It analyses the non-local nature of quantum
correlations in an entangled bipartite system and relates entanglement
to complementarity. Section 2.5 discusses the quantum-classical
boundary and analyses the decoherence phenomenon. Finally, Section
2.6 shows how simple quantum systems can be used as elementary
qubits for information processing.

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