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Overview
This text will thoroughly update the existing literature on atomic physics. Intended to accompany an advanced undergraduate course in atomic physics, the book will lead the students up to the latest advances and the applications to Bose-Einstein Condensation of atoms, matter-wave inter-ferometry and quantum computing with trapped ions. The elementary atomic physics covered in the early chapters should be accessible to undergraduates when they are first introduced to the subject. To complement the usual quantum mechanical treatment of atomic structure the book strongly emphasizes the experimental basis of the subject, especially in the later chapters. It includes ample tutorial material (examples, illustrations, chapter summaries, graded problem sets).
Synopsis
Primarily intending this volume to serve as a textbook for an undergraduate course in atomic physics, Foot (physics, U. of Oxford, UK) covers core material and a few more advanced topics illustrating current research. After reviewing classical ideas, he presents the basic principles of atomic structure, largely in reference to hydrogen and helium. He then covers the interaction of radiation with atoms; transitioning from issues of structure to the topics of laser spectroscopy, laser cooling, Bose-Einstein condensation of dilute atomic vapors, matter-wave interferometry, and ion trapping. The more advanced topics concentrate on low-energy and high-energy precision experiments that are used as examples in undergraduate lectures at Oxford. The text assumes knowledge of quantum mechanics equivalent to an introductory undergraduate course. Annotation © 2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR