Publisher's Synopsis
The field of general laser spectroscopy is being revolutionized by often dramatic advances in the technology of tunable sources, including the important trend towards miniaturization and towards reliable solid-state devices. The range of laser spectroscopy is expanding to include many more interdisciplinary applications, ranging from surface science to astrophysics. Laser spectroscopy can reveal new phenomena such as parity violation. It can rival and complement experiments with giant particle accelerators. The field of quantum optics has seen very significant advances in the state of the art. It has become possible to experiment with just a few quanta of the electromagnetic field, and new ideas, such as quantum-nondemolition measurements of photon numbers, have emerged. Laser spectroscopy is even beginning to shed light on the still elusive relationship between quantum mechanics and classical deterministic chaos.;In this book, the Enrico Fermi school, in keeping with the tradition of previous schools on this subject, covers the important developments made in the field of spectroscopy at a time when advances in the state of the art had reached a critical point.
