Exciting advances in physics and technology in this century will likely be a result of the precise engineering of quantum states. This has already led to the development of atomic clocks that are accurate to 1 second in 10 million years or better. Through precise quantum engineering, we expect to produce viable technologies such as quantum computers, quantum information storage and quantum communication. Two quantum fields that may be the basis of this technology revolution are atoms and light. In the twentieth century, we learned to manipulate light precisely through the invention of lasers and nonlinear optics. In the last decade, we have learned to manipulate atoms in a similarly precise way producing Bose Einstein condensates and atom or matter wave lasers. Future technologies will combine these techniques. This is a course in applied modern quantum mechanics. Students will learn about the classical and quantum nature of laser light, the classical and quantum description of atoms and the interactions of laser light with matter. We will study the fundamental models that underpin this active area of research and relate these models to current and future technologies.  The concepts and theory that will be developed in class will directly relate to the laboratory experiments. The laboratory is equipped with state of the art lasers, optics and expert instruction from leading practitioners in the field.

On satisfying the requirements of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

Assessment will be based on:

• Examinations to benchmark students' understanding of course material via two examinations: the first mid-semester exam will test students grasp of fundamental concepts (LO 1, 2) while the final exam will test their grasp of the applications of fundamental principles (LO 3) (40% in total)
• Weekly assignments, in conjunction with tutorials, to show students understand the techniques required to solve and understand relevant problems (20% in total; LO 1-3)
• Laboratory reports of a closely supervised advanced course: students are led through the design, construnction and understanding of a modern atomic physics experimen, and are required to write a report in LaTeX in the form of a journal article on their findings (40%; LO 4) 

A total of 24 lectures, 24 hours laboratory work and 10 tutorial hours.

PHYS3001 and PHYS2016