Overview
This book gathers the lecture notes of courses given at the 2011 summer school in theoretical physics in Les Houches, France, Session XCVI.What is a quantum machine? Can we say that lasers and transistors are quantum machines? After all, physicists advertise these devices as the two main spin-offs of the understanding of quantum mechanical phenomena. However, while quantum mechanics must be used to predict the wavelength of a laser and the operation voltage of a transistor, it does not intervene at the level of the signals processed by these systems. Signals involve macroscopic collective variables like voltages and currents in a circuit or the amplitude of the oscillating electric field in an electromagnetic cavity resonator. In a true quantum machine, the signal collective variables, which both inform the outside on the state of the machine and receive controlling instructions, must themselves be treated as quantum operators, just as the position of the electron in a hydrogen atom. Quantum superconducting circuits, quantum dots, and quantum nanomechanical resonators satisfy the definition of quantum machines. These mesoscopic systems exhibit a few collective dynamical variables, whose fluctuations are well in the quantum regime and whose measurement is essentially limited in precision by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Other engineered quantum systems based on natural, rather than artificial degrees of freedom can also qualify as quantum machines: trapped ions, single Rydberg atoms in superconducting cavities, and lattices of ultracold atoms. This book provides the basic knowledge needed to understand and investigate the physics of these novel systems.
Full Product Details
Author: Michel Devoret (, Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, USA; Collège de France, Paris, France) ,
Benjamin Huard (, Laboratoire Pierre Aigrain, CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France) ,
Robert Schoelkopf (, Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, USA) ,
Leticia F. Cugliandolo (, Laboratoire de Physique Theorique et Hautes Energies, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6, Paris, France)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Volume: 96
Dimensions:
Width: 17.60cm
, Height: 3.70cm
, Length: 24.80cm
Weight: 1.352kg
ISBN: 9780199681181
ISBN 10: 019968118
Pages: 602
Publication Date: 12 June 2014
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Author Information
Michel H. Devoret: Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, Paris, France ; Benjamin Huard: Laboratoire Pierre Aigrain, CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France ; Robert Schoelkopf: Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA ; Leticia F. Cugliandolo: Laboratoire de Physique Theorique et Hautes Energies Universite Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6, Paris, France
