Editor's Preface
This electronic journal is the compilation of final projects written by graduate students in Physics 566, "Quantum Optics", during the fall semester, 1999, at the University of New Mexico. In my experience, students are not exposed early enough to the publishing process before finishing their Ph.D. Furthermore, as with all of us, they can use all the practice they can get communicating their ideas, especially in written form. Thus, the purpose of the project was four-fold:
The students were given a list of possible topics under three main categories: (i) Laser-spectroscopy and atomic coherence, (ii) Nonclassical light and optical coherence, {iii) Quantum measurement and quantum information. These topics form the web of subjects which constitute the rapidly evolving field of modern quantum optics (see "map of quantum optics"). After writing an abstract and receiving my approval of topic, the students submitted a ~10 page article, strictly following the guidelines of the Physical Review Style Manual. The papers were then evaluated by two referees - one anonymous classmate and myself - according the the advice of the editor (me) (see Advice to referees). If not accepted, the student was required to respond to the referee critique and resubmit. Final referee decisions followed.
Though almost all the first drafts had significant deficiencies, especially in writing style and professional quality, by the second draft all showed dramatic improvement and almost all were of publishable quality.
To browse and download articles, go to Table of Contents.
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