My primary research interests are in studying the fundamental nature of light and how it interacts with atoms.
Light beams produced by an incandescent bulb, a laser, and an atom are different.
An understanding of this difference requires the use of quantum theory. The atom can be in free space or inside an optical cavity. In both cases we will include dissipation due to atomic and cavity decays. We will consider nonclassical states generated by nonlinear optical systems such as parametric oscillators. Many of these states have been experimentally realized.