Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester

Quantum Optics is the study of radiation and matter in the optical wavelength domain, where tests of fundamental physical questions are under way with unprecedented precision. The University of Rochester has been one of the world's leading centers of quantum optics from the beginning of the field in the 1960's.  At present there are more than a dozen different research groups at the University involved in some aspect of quantum optics.  Sophisticated probes of atoms and photons permit new insights into the foundations of quantum mechanics, with a focus on its counter-intuitive non-local character. They are also motivated by realization of futuristic applications such as quantum computing, crytography and teleportation, and exciting advances in laser cooling and trapping, recognized in the award of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, which was shared by UR alumnus Steven Chu (B.S. 1970, and now US Secretary of Energy).

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