Magnetic moment precessing in a magnetic field. Atoms are often described as two-level systems, and their dynamics is identical to a magnetic moment driven by time-dependent magnetic fields. (Courtesy of Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle).
Instructor(s)
Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle
MIT Course Number
8.421
As Taught In
Spring 2014
Level
Graduate
Course Description
Course Features
- Video lectures
- Captions/transcript
- Assignments: problem sets (no solutions)
- Exams (no solutions)
- Instructor insights
Course Description
This is the first of a two-semester subject sequence that provides the foundations for contemporary research in selected areas of atomic and optical physics. Topics covered include the interaction of radiation with atoms: resonance; absorption, stimulated and spontaneous emission; methods of resonance, dressed atom formalism, masers and lasers, cavity quantum electrodynamics; structure of simple atoms, behavior in very strong fields; fundamental tests: time reversal, parity violations, Bell's inequalities; and experimental methods.