Seminar by Gautier Depambour

Seminar by Gautier Depambour, SPHERE laboratory (Sciences, Philosophy, History), history and philosophy of natural sciences division, on Thursday 13 February 2025 at 11:00am in the Auditorium of the Institut d'Optique Graduate School in Palaiseau, on the topic: "From classical optics to quantum optics: focus on a key moment in the history of light".

Abstract: "At the Institut d’Optique, no one will be surprised to learn that, in the optical region, light exhibits a quantum behavior. However, this idea has not always been unanimously accepted! Even in the 1950s, optics was still essentially based on classical electromagnetism and remained disconnected from the history of quantization of radiation... until the discovery of the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect in 1956, which inaugurated experiments on photon statistics, and the first laser in 1960, which brought profound changes in the practice of optics. Firstly, I will show how these two events contributed to the emergence of a new field of research now called “quantum optics,” notably by motivating Roy Glauber to build its theoretical foundations in 1963. Secondly, I will focus on several controversies that marked this transition from classical to quantum optics. Lastly, I will outline the three main directions of the development of quantum optics from the 1960s to the 1980s: Leonard Mandel’s studies on free radiation in Rochester, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji’s inquiries into light-matter interactions in Paris, and Alain Aspect’s work on the foundations of quantum mechanics in Orsay."