Up-to-Date Coverage of Stable and Accurate Frequency Standards

The Quantum Physics of Atomic Frequency Standards: Recent Developments covers advances in atomic frequency standards (atomic clocks) from the last several decades. It explains the use of various techniques, such as laser optical pumping, coherent population trapping, laser cooling, and electromagnetic and optical trapping, in the implementation of classical microwave and optical atomic frequency standards.

The book first discusses improvements to conventional atomic frequency standards, highlighting the main limitations of those frequency standards and the physical basis of the limitations. It then describes how advances in the theory and applications of atomic physics have opened new avenues in frequency standards. The authors go on to explore the research and development of new microwave and optical frequency standards before presenting the results in frequency stability and accuracy achieved with these new frequency standards. They also illustrate the application of atomic clocks in metrology, telecommunications, navigation, and other areas and give some insight into future work.

Building on the success of the previous two volumes, this up-to-date, in-depth book examines the vast improvements to atomic clocks that have occurred in the last 25 years. The improved stability and accuracy enable the verification of physical concepts used in fundamental theories, such as relativity, as well as the stability of fundamental constants intrinsic to those theories.

About the Author

Jacques Vanier is an adjunct professor in the Physics Department at the University of Montreal. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American Physical Society, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He has written more than 120 journal articles and proceedings papers and is the author of several books on masers, lasers, and atomic clocks. His research work is oriented toward the understanding and application of the quantum electronics phenomena.

Cipriana Tomescu is an invited researcher in the Physics Department at the University of Montreal. She is the author of numerous articles in scientific journals and conference proceedings. Her research involves state-of-the-art atomic frequency standards and H masers.

Reviews

"The Quantum Physics of Atomic Frequency Standards: Recent Developments may be considered a basic textbook in the field of atomic clocks. It updates the previous two volumes with the new achievements in that field. This third volume describes, in fact, the results obtained in the past 25 years within the area of atom laser cooling and trapping techniques and with the full exploitation of laser coherently induced phenomena. The former refers in particular to atomic fountains, optical lattice clocks, and ion clocks, while the latter considers the optically pumped and coherent population-trapping-based clocks. The book is not a simple review of the applications of the above-mentioned new techniques but reports as well their basic operating principles in continuity with the first two volumes, making it suitable as a textbook at the PhD level and very useful for researchers in the atomic frequency standards field. I fully endorse this book, being sure of its future success in the time and frequency community."
-Aldo Godone, National Institute for Metrological Research of Italy

"Despite the fact that accurate and stable frequency references are critical for abundant commercial, scientific, and military applications, no comprehensive collection of the achievements over the last 25 years has been published. Therefore, Vanier and Tomescu's book is really going to fill a gap and its acquisition is a must for technical libraries and research groups working in the field. The reader will learn the essentials on all kinds of atomic frequency standards, commercial and research-grade, in the microwave and the optical frequency domains. ... The application of laser technology in optical frequency standards and optical frequency measurements has been covered well by the authors. ... a book that is worth being read and that can help beginners become experts."
-Andreas Bauch, Physicist, Head of Time Dissemination Working Group, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany

Book Information
ISBN 9781138894556
Author Jacques Vanier
Format Paperback
Page Count 486
Imprint CRC Press
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g