Quantum Optics 1 : Single Photons

Name: Quantum Optics 1 : Single Photons
Rating: 4.8 (339 reviews)

4.8339 ratings at Coursera

Overview

This course gives you access to basic tools and concepts to understand research articles and books on modern quantum optics. You will learn about quantization of light, formalism to describe quantum states of light without any classical analogue, and observables allowing one to demonstrate typical quantum properties of these states. These tools will be applied to the emblematic case of a one-photon wave packet, which behaves both as a particle and a wave. Wave-particle duality is a great quantum mystery in the words of Richard Feynman. You will be able to fully appreciate real experiments demonstrating wave-particle duality for a single photon, and applications to quantum technologies based on single photon sources, which are now commercially available. The tools presented in this course will be widely used in our second quantum optics course, which will present more advanced topics such as entanglement, interaction of quantized light with matter, squeezed light, etc...

So if you have a good knowledge in basic quantum mechanics and classical electromagnetism, but always wanted to know:

• how to go from classical electromagnetism to quantized radiation,

• how the concept of photon emerges,

• how a unified formalism is able to describe apparently contradictory behaviors observed in quantum optics labs,

• how creative physicists and engineers have invented totally new technologies based on quantum properties of light,

then this course is for you.

Syllabus 7

Quantization of light: one mode 8.5 hours
In this first lesson, you will discover what is canonical quantization, apply it to the quantization of a single mode of the electromagnetic field, and find that it behaves as a quantum harmonic oscillator. The notion of photon will then naturally emerge, as well as the weird but fundamental notion…
One photon state in a single mode: particle-like behaviour 5 hours
In this lesson, you will discover how the quantum optics formalism leads to the particle-like behaviour of a one photon wave-packet. For this, you will have to learn the quantum optics expressions of the simple and joint photodetection signals. A comparison with the semi-classical expressions will…
One photon interference: Wave-Particle duality 4.5 hours
In this lesson, you will address the fascinating question of a single photon interfering with itself, by calculating the interference pattern for a single photon launched into a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In order to do it you will first learn how to treat a beam-splitter in quantum optics, a ver…
Multimode quantized radiation: quantum optics in a real lab 4 hours
In the real world there is nothing like purely monochromatic radiation. A correct description of radiation necessarily involves several modes. In this lesson, you will learn how canonical quantization can be easily generalized to the case of several modes, and how various observables or important q…
One photon sources in the real world 3.5 hours
One photon sources are important components in quantum optics, both in research laboratories and in applied quantum technologies. The lesson of this week will present the various kinds of one-photon sources available today, from heralded one photon sources to one photon sources on demand. You will…
Wave-particle duality for a single photon in the real world 4.5 hours
You are now ready to develop the description of a real experiment , which was the first one to reveal directly the dual nature -- wave and particle, of a real single photon wave-packet. You will not only be able to describe, with the formalism you have learned, both the particle-like and the wave-l…
One-photon based quantum technologies 3 hours
In this lesson, you will discover two quantum technologies based on one photon sources. Quantum technologies allow one to achieve a goal in a way qualitatively different from a classical technology aiming at the same goal. For instance, quantum cryptography is immune to progress in computers power,…

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

Structured courses with graded quizzes, assignments and deadlines you can reset.
A shareable certificate from the university or company when you pay.
Financial aid is often approved for students in India (apply 15 days before you need it).
Rated 4.8 out of 5 by 339 learners.
Self-paced: start any time.
A clear syllabus (7 parts) you can see before you start.
Hands-on: you build or practise, not just watch.

Disadvantages

Paid after a 7-day free trial (Coursera Plus or per course).
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