Practical quantum optics

What does it mean if optics is quantum? Is hard core quantum optics solely concerned with the study of fundamental physics questions or is it also useful for practical applications? The course will give answers to these questions following the tradition of the two last CLEO Europe´s. This year the content of the course has been modified addressing the progress of the field. An introduction to quantum aspects in optics will be given with special emphasis to phase space methods - from the lab perspective. Experimental demonstrations will underline some of the counter intuitive quantum phenomena associated with the detection process. The generation, propagation and detection of quantum light are central topics. Practical quantum optics is all about noise, noise reduction and overcoming established sensitivity limits in interferometry, imaging, communication and sensing. Such applications of modern quantum optical technologies will be addressed in detail. Mathematical descriptions of the light field and its interaction with matter will be given whenever necessary but emphasis is put on practical considerations. Possible limits that quantum effects may impose on or opportunities that they may offer for applications in industry in the foreseeable future will be discussed. Experimental demonstrations of the different properties of classical and quantum noise are presented as well as demonstrations of the strong correlations of photon pairs generated in parametric down conversion.