Optically Polarized Atoms: Understanding light-atom interactions

This book is addressed to upper-level undergraduate and graduate students involved in research in atomic, molecular, and optical physics. It will also be useful to researchers practising in this field. It gives an intuitive, yet sufficiently detailed and rigorous introduction to light-atom interactions with a particular emphasis on the symmetry aspects of the interaction, especially those associated with the angular momentum of atoms and light. The book will enable readers to carry out practical calculations on their own, and is richly illustrated with examples drawn from current research topics, such as resonant nonlinear magneto-opticals. The book comes with a software package for a variety of atomic-physics calculations and further interactive examples that is freely downloadable from the book's web page, as well as additional materials (such as power-point presentations) available to instructors who adopt the text for their courses.

Table of Contents:
I: INTRODUCTION TO LIGHT-ATOM INTERACTIONS1: Introduction2: Atomic states3: A bit of angular-momentum theory4: Atoms in external electric and magnetic fields5: Polarized atoms6: Polarized light7: Atomic transitions8: Coherence in atomic systems9: Optical pumping10: Light-atom interaction observed in transmitted lightII: ADVANCED TOPICS11: Nonlinear magneto-optical rotation12: Perturbative and approximate methods for light-atom interactions13: Polarization effects in transitions with partially resolved hyperfine structure14: The effect of hyperfine splitting on nonlinear magneto-optical rotation15: Coherence effects revisited16: Collapse and revival in quantum beats17: Nuclear quadrupole resonance and alignment-to-orientation conversion18: Selective addressing of high-rank polarization moments19: Tensor structure of the DC- and AC-Stark polarizabilities20: Photoionization of polarized atoms with polarized lightAppendix A: Constants, units, and notationsAppendix B: Units of energy, frequency, and wavelengthAppendix C: Reference data for hydrogen and the alkali atomsAppendix D: Classical rotationsAppendix E: Nonlinear magneto-optical rotation with hyperfine structureAppendix F: The Atomic Density Matrix software package

About the Author :
Marcis Auzinsh is the Rector of the University of Latvia, where he was previously Chairman of the Senate, Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, and Head of Center of Excellence for Basic Research in Nanoscale Physics and Application. He has held visiting positions at universities around the world, and is a Member of Executive Commitee of the European Physical Society. Dmitry Budker took his PhD at the University of California at Berkeley, where he won the 1994 American Physical Society Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Atomic, Molecular, or Optical Physics. He is now a Professor of Physics there. In 2005 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and in 2009 became a American Physical Society Outstanding Referee. Simon M. Rochester is a Graduate Student Researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, where he holds a NASA Earth System Science Fellowship.

Review :
This is an excellent undergraduate textbook which provides a modern treatment of atom-light interactions from an experimentalist's perspective. I recommend this book to any student who aims for a deep understanding of the concepts in atomic physics and how to apply them to current research topics. Many modern atomic physics experiments use subtle effects of atom-light interactions, be they the destructive interference associated with coherent superpositons, or the dynamics of optical pumping, or alignment to orientation conversion. Having such topics discussed in a coherent theoretical framework provides an excellent resource. I highly recommend 'Optically Polarized Atoms' and will probably use it next time I teach my graduate course. [...] The book is specifically intended for use in a one-semester course in which the symmetry and angular-momentum aspects of atomic structure and laser-atom interactions are central. [...] The level of detail and the clarity of explanations are admirable. The recently published book 'Optically Polarized Atoms' by Marcis Auzinsh, Dmitry Budker and Simon M. Rochester will be a unique and valuable addition to the library of anyone -- students or established researchers [...] It provides a rich mine of information about atomic physics that is hard to find elsewhere. I intend to keep a copy on my shelf of favorite physics books.