Overview

This century has seen the development of technologies for manipulating and controlling matter and light at the level of individual photons and atoms, a realm in which physics is fully quantum-mechanical. The dominant experimental technology is the laser, and the theoretical paradigm is quantum optics. The Quantum World of Ultra-Cold Atoms and Light is a trilogy, which presents the quantum optics way of thinking and its applications to quantum devices. This book -- Ultra-Cold Atoms" -- provides a theoretical treatment of ultra-cold Bosons and Fermions and their interactions with electromagnetic fields in a form consistent with the first two books in the trilogy. The book covers five main areas The physics of cold collisions, binding of atoms into molecules, and Feshbach resonances, Bose-Einstein condensation, at zero temperature, and at finite temperature, Quantum kinetic theory, Ultra-cold Fermions, Atoms in optical lattices. The central concept is the quantum stochastic paradigm, formulated for cold collision physics. For Bosons, this yields a suite of techniques; versions of the stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation, using which a wide range of dynamic and thermal properties are formulated. The eBook editions of the "Quantum World Trilogy" feature an extensive system of hyperlinks for ease of cross reference within the books, as well links to the other books in the trilogy. In the section Viewing the eBooks we explain how these links work, and give some advice on appropriate pdf viewer applications. For more information, please visit: http://europe.worldscientific.com/quantum-world-of-ultra-cold-atoms-and-light.html"