MIT Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle - Atomic & Optical Physics
These lectures from Nobel Laureate Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle cover the foundations of modern atomic and optical physics, from quantum optics to Bose-Einstein condensation. Prof. Ketterle won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work on BEC.
Part I: Quantum Optics
Quantum Description of Light
Classical vs quantum treatment of electromagnetic fields. Transition from classical waves to photons. Coherent states and uncertainty relations for light.
Video Lecture
Topic 1: Quantum Description of Light
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Non-classical Light and Squeezing
Squeezed states of light that violate classical uncertainty relations. Applications to gravitational wave detection (LIGO). Sub-shot-noise measurements.
Video Lecture
Topic 2: Non-classical Light and Squeezing
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Single Photons and Photon Entanglement
Generation and detection of single photons. EPR paradox and Bell inequalities. Quantum entanglement and tests of quantum mechanics fundamentals.
Part 1:
Video Lecture
Topic 3 Part 1: Single Photons and Photon Entanglement
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Part 2:
Video Lecture
Topic 3 Part 2: Single Photons and Photon Entanglement
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Quantum Metrology and the Heisenberg Limit
Precision measurements beyond the shot noise limit. Heisenberg uncertainty principle and quantum-enhanced sensing. Applications to atomic clocks and interferometry.
Part 1:
Video Lecture
Topic 4 Part 1: Quantum Metrology and the Heisenberg Limit
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Part 2:
Video Lecture
Topic 4 Part 2: Quantum Metrology and the Heisenberg Limit
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Classical and Quantum Field of a Harmonic Oscillator
Quantization of the harmonic oscillator. Creation and annihilation operators. Connection between quantum oscillator and electromagnetic field modes.
Part 1:
Video Lecture
Topic 5 Part 1: Classical and Quantum Field of a Harmonic Oscillator
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Part 2:
Video Lecture
Topic 5 Part 2: Classical and Quantum Field of a Harmonic Oscillator
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Second Quantization of Light
Full quantum treatment of the electromagnetic field. Photon creation and annihilation operators. Fock states, coherent states, and thermal states of the radiation field.
Video Lecture
Topic 6: Second Quantization of Light
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Part II: Light-Atom Interactions
Interaction of Light with Atoms
Two-level atom model. Dipole approximation and electric dipole transitions. Time-dependent perturbation theory for atom-photon coupling.
Part 1:
Video Lecture
Topic 7 Part 1: Interaction of Light with Atoms
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Part 2:
Video Lecture
Topic 7 Part 2: Interaction of Light with Atoms
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Optical Bloch Equations
Density matrix formalism for open quantum systems. Optical Bloch equations describing atom-light interaction with damping. Steady-state solutions and saturation.
Video Lecture
Topic 8: Optical Bloch Equations
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Irreversible Relaxation and Line Broadening
Spontaneous emission and radiative decay. Natural linewidth and lifetime broadening. Collision broadening and Doppler broadening in atomic spectra.
Video Lecture
Topic 9: Irreversible Relaxation and Line Broadening
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Light Forces
Radiation pressure force (scattering force) and dipole force (gradient force). Mechanical effects of light on atoms. Foundation for laser cooling and optical trapping.
Video Lecture
Topic 10: Light Forces
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Dressed Atom and AC Stark Effect
Atom-photon dressed states. AC Stark shift and light-induced energy level shifts. Physical picture of dipole force from dressed atom perspective.
Video Lecture
Topic 11: Dressed Atom and AC Stark Effect
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Reaching Ultralow Temperatures
Laser cooling mechanisms: Doppler cooling, sub-Doppler cooling, and Sisyphus cooling. Reaching microkelvin temperatures with optical molasses and magneto-optical traps (MOTs).
Video Lecture
Topic 12: Reaching Ultralow Temperatures
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Part III: Ultracold Atoms & Quantum Gases
Evaporative Cooling
From microkelvin (laser cooling) to nanokelvin (evaporative cooling). Principle of evaporative cooling and runaway evaporation. Reaching quantum degeneracy in trapped gases.
Video Lecture
Topic 13: Evaporative Cooling
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Bose Gases
Quantum statistics for identical bosons. Bose-Einstein distribution. Onset of quantum degeneracy and critical temperature for BEC.
Part 1:
Video Lecture
Topic 14 Part 1: Bose Gases
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Part 2:
Video Lecture
Topic 14 Part 2: Bose Gases
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Bose-Einstein Condensation
🏆 Nobel Prize topic! Macroscopic occupation of the ground state. Experimental observation of BEC in alkali atoms. Properties of condensates and collective excitations.
Video Lecture
Topic 15: Bose-Einstein Condensation
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Weakly Interacting Bose Gases
Gross-Pitaevskii equation for interacting condensates. Mean-field theory and healing length. Sound waves (Bogoliubov excitations) in BEC.
Part 1:
Video Lecture
Topic 16 Part 1: Weakly Interacting Bose Gases
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Part 2:
Video Lecture
Topic 16 Part 2: Weakly Interacting Bose Gases
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Fermi Gases and the Fermi Surface
Quantum statistics for identical fermions. Fermi-Dirac distribution and Pauli exclusion principle. Degenerate Fermi gases at ultralow temperatures.
Video Lecture
Topic 17: Fermi Gases and the Fermi Surface
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BEC-BCS Crossover
Feshbach resonances and tunable interactions. Crossover from BEC of molecules to BCS pairing of fermions. Unitary Fermi gas at infinite scattering length.
Video Lecture
Topic 18: BEC-BCS Crossover
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Intro to Ion Trapping
Paul traps and Penning traps for confining single ions. Laser cooling of trapped ions. Applications to precision spectroscopy and atomic clocks.
Video Lecture
Topic 19: Intro to Ion Trapping
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Ion Trapping II
Motional states and sideband cooling to the quantum ground state. Lamb-Dicke regime. Coupling internal and motional degrees of freedom.
Video Lecture
Topic 20: Ion Trapping II
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Quantum Gates with Ions
Using trapped ions for quantum information processing. Single-qubit and two-qubit gates. Cirac-Zoller gate and Mølmer-Sørensen gate. Path toward scalable quantum computing.
Video Lecture
Topic 21: Quantum Gates with Ions
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🎓 Course Summary
This comprehensive course takes you from the quantum nature of light through laser cooling and trapping all the way to Bose-Einstein condensation and quantum computing with trapped ions. You'll see how abstract quantum mechanics principles manifest in real laboratory experiments at the cutting edge of modern physics.