About the Book
Comprises a comprehensive reference source that unifies the entire fields of atomic molecular and optical (AMO) physics, assembling the principal ideas, techniques and results of the field. 92 chapters written by about 120 authors present the principal ideas, techniques and results of the field, together with a guide to the primary research literature (carefully edited to ensure a uniform coverage and style, with extensive cross-references). Along with a summary of key ideas, techniques, and results, many chapters offer diagrams of apparatus, graphs, and tables of data. From atomic spectroscopy to applications in comets, one finds contributions from over 100 authors, all leaders in their respective disciplines. Substantially updated and expanded since the original 1996 edition, it now contains several entirely new chapters covering current areas of great research interest that barely existed in 1996, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, quantum information, and cosmological variations of the fundamental constants. A fully-searchable CD- ROM version of the contents accompanies the handbook.
Table of Contents:
Units and Constants.- Part A Mathematical Methods: Angular Momentum Theory.- Group Theory for Atomic Shells.- Dynamical Groups.- Perturbation Theory.- Second Quantization.- Density Matrices.- Computational Techniques.- Hydrogenic Wave Functions.- Part B Atoms: Atomic Spectroscopy.- High Precision Calculations for Helium.- Atomic Multipoles.- Atoms in Strong Fields.- Rydberg Atoms.- Rydberg Atoms in Strong Static Fields.- Hyperfine Structure.- Precision Oscillator Strength and Lifetime Measurements.- Ion Beam Spectroscopy.- Line Shapes and Radiation Transfer.- Thomas - Fermi and Other Density-Functional Theories.- Atomic Structure: Multiconfiguration Hartree - Fock Theories.- Relativistic Atomic Structure.- Many-Body Theory of Atomic Structure and Processes.- Photoionization of Atoms.- Autoionization.- Green's Functions of Field Theory.- Quantum Electrodynamics.- Tests of Fundamental Physics.- Parity Nonconserving Effects in Atoms.- Atomic Clocks and Constraints on Variations of Fundamental Constants.- Molecular Structure.- Molecular Symmetry and Dynamics.- Radiative Transition Probabilities.- Molecular Photodissociation.- Time-Resolved Molecular Dynamics.- Nonreactive Scattering.- Gas Phase Reactions.- Gas Phase Ionic Reactions.- Clusters.- Infrared Spectroscopy.- Laser Spectroscopy in the Submillimeter and Far-Infrared Region.- Spectroscopic Techniques: Lasers.- Spectroscopic Techniques: Cavity-Enhanced Methods.- Spectroscopic Techniques: Ultraviolet.- Part C Scattering Theory: Elastic Scattering: Classical, Quantal, and Semiclassical.- Orientation and Alignment in Atomic and Molecular Collisions.- Electron-Atom, Electron-Ion, and Electron-Molecule Collisions.- Positron Collisions.- Adiabatic and Diabatic Collision Processes at Low Energies.- Ion -Atom and Atom - Atom Collisions.- Ion - Atom Charge Transfer Reactions at Low Energies.- Continuum Distorted-Wave and Wannier Methods.- Ionization in High Energy Ion - Atom Collisions.- Electron - Ion and Ion - Ion Recombination.- Dielectronic Recombination.- Rydberg Collisions: Binary Encounter, Born and Impulse Approximations.- Mass Transfer at High Energies: Thomas Peak.- Classical Trajectory and Monte Carlo Techniques.- Collisional Broadening of Spectral Lines.- Part D Scattering Experiments: Photodetachment.- Photon - Atom Interactions: Low Energy.- Photon - Atom Interactions: Intermediate Energies.- Electron - Atom and Electron - Molecule Collisions.- Ion - Atom Scattering Experiments: Low Energy.- Ion - Atom Collisions:High Energy.- Reactive Scattering.- Ion - Molecule Reactions.- Part E Quantum Optics: Light - Matter Interaction.- Absorption and Gain Spectra.- Laser Principles.- Types of Lasers.- Nonlinear Optics.- Coherent Transients.- Multiphoton and Strong-Field Processes.- Cooling and Trapping.- Quantum Degenerate Gases: Bose - Einstein Condensation.- De Broglie Optics.- Quantized Field Effects.- Entangled Atoms and Fields: Cavity QED.- Quantum Optical Tests of the Foundations of Physics.- Quantum Information.- Part F Applications: Applications of Atomic and Molecular Physics to Astrophysics.- Comets.- Aeronomy.- Applications of Atomic and Molecular Physics to Global Change.- Atoms in Dense Plasmas.- Conduction of Electricity in Gases.- Applications to Combustion.- Surface Physics.- Interface with Nuclear Physics.- Charged-Particle - Matter Interactions.- Radiation Physics.- About the Authors.- Subject Index
About the Author :
Gordon W F Drake is a Professor of Physics at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He was awarded the 1994 Gold Medal for Achievement in Physics by the Canadian Association of Physicists and has chaired both the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of The American Physical Society, as well as the IUPAP Commission on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics. Dr. Drake is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, The American Physical Society, and the British Institute of Physics.
Review :
From the reviews of the second edition: "This large, well-produced volume contains everything now needed to work in the fields of atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Hence, it should easily available to every working applied physicist. ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students through professionals." (A. M. Saperstein, CHOICE, Vol. 43 (10), June, 2006) "This Handbook comprises a comprehensive reference source that unifies the entire fields of atomic, molecular and optical physics, assembling the principal ideas, techniques and results of the field ... . It combines introductory explanations with descriptions of phenomena, discussions of results achieved, and gives a useful selection of references to allow more detailed studies, making the handbook very suitable as a desktop reference. ... I can recommend this valuable handbook not only to physicists, but also to professionals ... ." (Paul Gerich, Optik, Vol. 117, 2006) "G.W.F. Drake has marshalled more than 130 authors into contributing 92 articles, organized into seven broad areas ... . I have the impression that the entries will be helpful to the physicists for whom they are intended ... . The book is beautifully produced, the printing of the mathematics is a pleasure to the eye, the referencing has been standardized ... and the pages are nicely formatted. ... it will be frequently hauled down from the shelf of any library ... ." (P. W. Hawkes, Ultramicroscopy, Vol. 107, 2007) "The well-received 1996 Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Handbook ... has been updated and reissued, with Springer as the new publisher ... . The print is easy to read and illustrations have been generously supplied. ... I enthusiastically recommend it for rapid acquisition by AMO groups who missed the first edition altogether" (Prof. J. Eberly, Contemporary Physics, Vol. 48 (1), 2007)
