Modern optics and photonics more and more use quantum physics in the description of optical processes and systems. This is primarily a result of the advances in laser technology and the miniaturisation of optical nano structures, where
interactions between small numbers of atoms or even a single atom and photons occur.
The goal is to give the student a good general background and a thorough basis for further work within quantum optics.

• Explain the properties of mixed and pure optical quantum states and calculate measurable quantities of such states.
• Understand the quantization of the electromagnetic field and apply this to describe the vacuum field as well as the coherence properties of optical quantum states.
• Describe different measurement techniques in quantum optics such as the homodyne detector, the photon counter as well as abstract projectors.
• Discuss different mathematical representations of quantum states of light such as the Fock state representation, the position representation and the Wigner function formalism.
• Understand different observables of quantum optical experiments; the quadrature operators, the photon number operator and the phase operator.
• Explain the nature and coherence of different classical, semi-classical and non-classical states of light.
• Explain the fundamental atom-light interaction using the semi-classical approach and the fully quantum mechanical approach and understand the differences between the two.
• Discuss different optical elements that transform quantum states such as the beam splitter, the parametric amplifier and the phase plate.
• Describe the Jaynes-Cummings model and understand the process of cavity quantum electrodynamics
• Discuss and perform calculations on modern applications of quantum optics including quantum metrology, quantum information processing and quantum opto-mechanics.

The course introduces the student to the semi-classical description as well as to the full quantum theoretical description of the interaction between matter and nano structures. These methods are used to describe the light field in various quantum optical states and to describe absorption, emission and photo detection. In the final part of the course we work with the quantum optical description of interference and coherence as well as with noise phenomena in detectors and lasers. We also study the generation and measurement of uniquely quantum optical phenomena such as squeezed light and entanglement. The student is also introduced to the quantum mechanical coupling between light and nano structures in optical micro cavities as well as applications of quantum optics in metrology and informatics. The student is thus introduced to the most current research in quantum optics.

Introductory Quantum Optics by Ch. Gerry and P. Knight, ISBN 978-0521527354.