Fluctuations and noise in photonics and quantum optics: a special issue in memory of Hermann Haus

Abstract

This Special Issue of Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics brings together the contributions of various researchers working on theoretical and experimental aspects of fluctuational phenomena in photonics and quantum optics. The topics discussed in this issue extend from fundamental physics to applications of noise and fluctuational methods from quantum to classical systems, and include: ? Quantum measurement ? Quantum squeezing ? Solitons and fibres ? Gravitational wave inferometers ? Fluorescence phenomena ? Cavity QED ? Photon statistics ? Noise in lasers and laser systems ? Quantum computing and information ? Quantum lithography ? Teleportation. This Special Issue is published in connection with the SPIE International Symposium on Fluctuations and Noise, held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 1-4 June 2003. The symposium contained six parallel conferences, and the papers in this Special Issue are connected to the conference entitled `Fluctuations and Noise in Photonics and Quantum Optics'. This was the first in a series of symposia organized with the support of the SPIE that have greatly contributed to progress in this area. The co-founders of the symposium series were Laszlo B Kish (Texas AM as can be seen in the collection of papers, he was certainly present in spirit. In honour of his creativity and pioneering work in this field, we have dedicated this Special Issue to him. The first item is an obituary reflecting on his life and work. The first technical paper in this issue represents Hermann's last sole author publication; a special thanks is due to A P Flitney for organizing this manuscript into publishable form. We thank the members of the International Programme Committee, listed below, and all those who contributed to making the event such a success. At this point we take the opportunity to express our gratitude to both the authors and reviewers, for their unfailing efforts in preparing and ensuring the high quality of the papers in this Special Issue. International Programme Committee David A Cardimona?Air Force Research Laboratory, USA Howard Carmichael?University of Auckland, New Zealand Carlton M Caves?University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA Peter D Drummond?University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia Paul J Edwards?University of Canberra, Australia Luca Gammaitoni?Universit? degli Studi di Perugia, Italy Brage Golding?Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA Gabriela Gonzalez?Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA Guangcan Guo?University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China Salman Habib?Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, USA Murray Hamilton?University of Adelaide, Australia Bei-Lok Hu?University of Maryland/College Park, USA Daniel K Johnstone?Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA Franz X K?rtner?Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA Prem Kumar?Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Zachary Lemnios?DARPA, Arlington, VA, USA Gerd Leuchs?Friedrich-Alexander Universit?t Erlangen--N?rnberg, Germany Hideo Mabuchi?California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA Peter W Milonni?Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, USA Adrian C Ottewill?University College Dublin, Ireland Martin B Plenio?Imperial College, London, UK Rajeev J Ram?Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA Farhan Rana?Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA Peter R Smith?Loughborough University of Technology, UK Rodney S Tucker?University of Melbourne, Australia Howard M Wiseman?Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia Stuart A Wolf?DARPA, Arlington, VA, USA Anton Zeilinger?University of Vienna, Austria Xi-Cheng Zhang?Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA