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Welcome to the faculty homepage for Pierre Meystre. On this site you will find more information in Professor Pierre Meystre.

Education: 

  • Habilitation, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich (Germany), 1983
  • Ph.D., Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (Switzerland), 1974
  • Diplôme, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (Switzerland), 1971
To get Started:
1. J. J. Slosser and P. Meystre, “Resource Letter CQO-1: Coherence in Quantum Optics”. Am. J. Phys. 65, 275 (1997):

This paper provides a brief introduction and an annotated guide to the literature about the role of coherence in quantum optics. Books, conference proceedings and selected journal articles are listed for the following topics: Early history, lasers, nonclassical states of light, cavity quantum electrodynamics, cooling and trapping, atom optics, and optical tests of
the foundations of physics.

2. P. Meystre, “When atoms become waves,” Alexander-von-Humboldt Stiftung Mitteilungen 70, 473 (1997)

This is a “general audience” discussion of matter waves, atomic cooling, BEC and atom lasers. Click here

3. B. P. Anderson and P. Meystre, “Nonlinear atom optics”, Contemporary Physics 44, 473 (2003)

This is an “advanced undergraduate” discussion of nonlinear atom optics. Click here

4. P. Meystre, “Atom Optics”, (Springer Verlag 2001)

A monograph taking the reader from the basics of light forces on atoms to laser cooling, Bose-Einstein condensation, and nonlinear and quantum atom optics. The web component of the book includes hot links to the references, useful links, and an up-to-date erratum Click here

5. P. Meystre and M. Sargent III, Elements of Quantum Optics”, 4th edition (Springer Verlag 2007 )

A graduate-level text on optical physics and quantum optics, including new chapters on atom optics and cavity quantum electrodynamics, as well as expanded discussions of quantum mechanics, system-reservoir interactions and second quantization. Click here

6. M. Aspelmeyer, P . Meystre and K. C. Schwab, “Quantum optomechanics”, Physics Today 65, 29 (2012)

This is a tutorial introduction to quantum optomechanics at a level appropriate for an advanced undergaduate or beginning graduate student. Click here

7. P. Meystre, “Quantum Optics: Taming the Quantum” (Springer Verlag 2021)

This book is a thoroughly modern and highly pedagogical graduate-level introduction to quantum optics, a subject which has witnessed stunning developments in recent years and has come to occupy a central role in the ‘second quantum revolution’. The reader is invited to explore the fundamental role that quantum optics plays in the control and manipulation of quantum systems, leading to ultracold atoms, circuit QED, quantum information science, quantum optomechanics, and quantum metrology, and is provided with enough background knowledge and understanding to follow the current journal literature and begin producing their own original research Click here

For an up-to-date erratum click here.