Physik-Kolloquium
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HU Department of Physics
Newtonstraße 15,
12489 Berlin
Lise-Meitner-Haus, Christian-Gerthsen-Hörsaal
Why photons? A psychoanalytic portrait of a scientist as a mature man
– Special Colloquium together with MBI –
Prof. Dr. Maciej Lewenstein (ICFO, Barcelona)
I will start with the origins: Maxwell theory, present five reasons to quantize, or maybe four? I will then discuss quantum theory of optical coherence, answering the question: How to reconcile Maxwell with photons? I will describe shortly coherent states and squeezed states. I will then turn to strong field physics, starting with a historical introduction and description of the present times, where semi-classical theory is sufficient. I will then mention the generation of Schrödinger cat states within atto-physics, answering the question: yes, we do need photons. At the end, I will discuss three mechanisms to exhibit quantumness of EM fields: i) Conditioning/post selection + applications; ii) Nonlinear effects induced by depletion/interband transitions, or dipole correlations; iii) Use quantum fields.
The Colloquium will be held in “hybrid” form. You can either join in person or via zoom.