Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics: The Strange Theory of Light in a Box

Preface

First, then, I will lay down some general rules, most of which, I believe, you have considered already; but if any of them be new to you, they may excuse the rest; if none at all, yet is my punishment more in writing than yours' in reading.

—Sir Isaac Newton's letter to a certain Francis Aston (May 18, 1669)

Cavity quantum electrodynamics is about what happens to light and, in particular to its interaction with matter when it is trapped inside a box. By light I mean not only visible light (i.e., the optical region of the spectrum) but also the infrared and microwave regions. This book has two main aims. The first is to serve as an introductory text for Ph.D. students, postdocs, and more experienced physicists wishing to enter this field. I have worked hard to write the book that I dreamed of reading when I started my Ph.D. The second aim is to serve as a supplementary text for an advanced undergraduate course in quantum mechanics.

Why would cavity quantum electrodynamics, which sounds like a highly specialized topic, be of any use as a supplement to an undergraduate lecture course in quantum mechanics? Because it provides a bridge between the bread-and-butter quantum mechanics that is usually taught to undergraduates and most of the exciting new physics and technology that is being done today. Quantum electrodynamics is the basis of all other quantum field theories, which together with general relativity, form the fundamental core of the whole of contemporary physics. ...