Abstract
An atom laser is a hypothetical device that would produce an atomic field analogous to the electromagnetic field of a photon laser, Here I argue that for this analogy to be meaningful it is necessary to have a precise definition of a laser that applies equally to photon or atom lasers. The definition I propose is based on the principle that the output of a laser is well-approximated by a classical wave of fixed intensity and phase.
© 1997 Optical Society of America
PDF ArticleMore Like This
Alfred Maquet, Richard Taïeb, and Valérie Véniard
FD3 Applications of High Field and Short Wavelength Sources (HFSW) 1997
J. P. Yin, H. R. Noh, K. I. Lee, J. A. Kim, W. H. Jhe, and Y. Z. Wang
QWD14 Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (CLEO:FS) 1997
W. Lu, D. Milic, R. Knops, M. D. Hoogerland, K. G. H. Baldwin, and S. J. Buckman
QWD23 Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (CLEO:FS) 1997