This book describes collisions between atoms that have been cooled to extremely low temperatures by optical and evaporative cooling techniques. John Weiner reviews the elements of the quantum theory of scattering, and summarizes the theory and experimental techniques of optical cooling and trapping. He also describes applications to precision spectroscopy, the determination of atomic properties, control of inelastic collisions by laser fields, and the manipulation of Bose-Einstein condensates (mesoscopic quantum systems).

Cold and ultracold collisions occupy a strategic position at the intersection of several powerful themes of current research in chemical physics, in atomic, molecular and optical physics, and even in condensed matter. The nature of these collisions has important consequences for optical manipulation of inelastic and reactive processes, precision measurement of molecular and atomic properties, matter-wave coherences and quantum-statistical condensates of dilute, weakly interacting atoms. This crucial position explains the wide interest and explosive growth of the field since its inception in 1987. The author reviews elements of the quantum theory of scattering theory, collisions taking place in the presence of one or more light fields, and collisions in the dark, below the photon recoil limit imposed by the presence of any light field. Finally, it reviews the essential properties of these mesoscopic quantum systems and describes the key importance of the scattering length to condensate stability.

Light-matter interaction is pervasive throughout the disciplines of optical and atomic physics, condensed matter physics, electrical engineering, and now increasingly in biology and medicine with frequency and length scales extending over many orders of magnitude. Deep earth and sea communications use frequencies of a few tens of Hz, and X-ray imaging requires sources oscillating at hundreds of petaHz. This book provides advanced undergraduates, graduate students and researchers from diverse disciplines with the principal tools required to understand and contribute to rapidly advancing developments in light-matter interaction, centred at optical frequencies and length scales from a few hundred nanometres to a few hundredths of a nanometre. This book deploys an arsenal of powerful analytic tools to render this multidisciplinary subject in unique form, not encountered in standard Physics or Electrical Engineering text books. This new edition has been substantially expanded with almost 200 pages of new material. Several new and extended chapters treat momentum flow between fields and matter, metamaterials, and atom-optical forces applied to atomic and molecular cooling and trapping.

Light-matter interaction is pervasive throughout the disciplines of optical and atomic physics, condensed matter physics, electrical engineering, and now increasingly in biology and medicine with frequency and length scales extending over many orders of magnitude. Deep earth and sea communications use frequencies of a few tens of Hz, and X-ray imaging requires sources oscillating at hundreds of petaHz. This book provides advanced undergraduates, graduate students and researchers from diverse disciplines with the principal tools required to understand and contribute to rapidly advancing developments in light-matter interaction, centred at optical frequencies and length scales from a few hundred nanometres to a few hundredths of a nanometre. This book deploys an arsenal of powerful analytic tools to render this multidisciplinary subject in unique form, not encountered in standard Physics or Electrical Engineering text books. This new edition has been substantially expanded with almost 200 pages of new material. Several new and extended chapters treat momentum flow between fields and matter, metamaterials, and atom-optical forces applied to atomic and molecular cooling and trapping.