Quantum squeezing. (Q1888967)

The book is devoted to the quantum squeezing. This is a vast field of investigation: ISI Web of Knowledge gives 1488 items for ``Squeezed states'' in the period 1975-2006, while ZentralblattMATH gives 1219 entries containing the same subject at Mathematical Subject Classification. The story of squeezed states starts almost simultaneously with the discovery of Quantum Mechanics, is developing in the sixties and seventies, when the squeezed states were theoretically introduced, and continues in the eighties, when the first experimental evidences were produced, see e.g. the review articles [\textit{W.-M Zhang, D. H. Feng} and \textit{R. Gilmore}, ``Coherent states: theory and some applications'', Rev. Mod. Phys. 62, 867--927 (1990); \textit{V. V. Dodonov}, ```Nonclassical' states in quantum optics: a `squeezed' review of the first 75 years'', J. Opt. B: Quantum semiclassical Opt. 4, R1--R33 (2002); \textit{S. Sivakumar}, ``Studies on nonlinear coherent states'', J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 2, R61--R75 (2000)]. The authors of this book, well known physicists in their field, mostly avoid precise mathematical definitions and formulations, although the treatment is as precise as most standard treatments in theoretical physics or engineering science. It is well known that for the coherent state harmonic oscillator the uncertainties in momentum and position are equal with \(1/\sqrt{2}\) (in units of \(\hbar\)). ``The squeezed states'' are the states for which the uncertainty in position is less than \(1/\sqrt{2}\). The squeezed states are a particular class of ``minimum uncertainty states'', i.e. states which saturates the Heisenberg uncertainty relation. From the group theoretic point of view, the squeezed states can be described by the Jacobi group, i.e. the semidirect product of the Heisenberg-Weyl group with the real symplectic group of adequate dimension [\textit{M. Eichler} and \textit{D. Zagier}, The theory of Jacobi forms, Progress in Mathematics, 55, Birkhäuser, Boston, MA (1985; Zbl 0554.10018)], but this fact is not mentioned explicitly in the book. The book is divided into three parts. In the first part, \textit{The fundamentals}, there are three chapters, entitled respectively, \textit{Squeezed states: basic principles} by P. L. Knight and V. Bužek, \textit{Nonlinear dielectrics} by M. Hillery, and \textit{Input-output theory} by B. Yurke. Chapter 1 describes how a light field may be understood as a collection of harmonic oscillators which is quantized in standard manner and which fluctuates as a consequence of the canonical commutation relations. Chapter 2 deals with quantization of the electromagnetic field in the presence of nonlinear dielectric medium, and presents both the macroscopic and microscopic approaches. Chapter 3 deals with recent developments in input-output theory, which includes the formulation of better mathematical machinery for dealing with nonlinearities, random media and cavities of complex shapes. Part II is devoted to \textit{generation of quantum squeezing}, and it contains articles devoted to generation of squeezed states in nonlinear optics (review by P. D. Drummond) and by lasers (T. C. Ralph). Drummond mentions the Fokker-Plank and stochastic equations. Ralph starts his section with a quantum mechanical theory for a four-level laser and uses it to obtain the operator equations of motion which are then treated by different simplifying approximations. Chapter 6, \textit{Squeezing and feedback} (by H. M. Wiseman), explains how feedback techniques can be used to produce non-classical radiation. This chapter contains the homodyne detection theory. Part III deals with applications of quantum squeezing. The chapter of H. P. Yuen, \textit{Communication and measurement with squeezed states}, contains a lot of not yet published contributions of the author. An important part is devoted to the use of nonclassical states in physical measurement and to the communication theoretic limit on the accuracy of measurements. Chapter 8 and 9 (by, respectively, S. Swain, and Z. Ficek) is devoted to spectroscopy with two (respectively, three)-level atoms in squeezed fields. The last chapter of part III, by M. D. Reid, is devoted to the famous Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations, in connection with entanglement and quantum cryptography. Despite the fact that it consists of independent chapters, the book is however unitary, the authors of every chapter making references to the previous contributions. In conclusion, the book is appealing for mathematicians which want to feel a flavor of the physics of squeezed states.