Quantum Fluctuations of Light: A Modern Perspective on Wave/Particle Duality

H. J. Carmichael

Published 2001-04-14Version 1

We review studies of the fluctuations of light made accessible by the invention of the laser and the strong interactions realized in cavity QED experiments. Photon antibunching advocating the discrete (particles), is contrasted with amplitude squeezing which speaks of the continuous (waves). The tension between particles and waves is demonstrated by a recent experiment which combines the measurement strategies used to observe these nonclassical behaviors of light [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3149 (2000)].