Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics: The Strange Theory of Light in a Box

Acknowledgments

The scientific profession is a bit of a craft and it is still best learned from a master craftsman as in the Middle Ages. The ultimate origin of this book is perhaps my M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses, which were supervised by Luiz Davidovich and Peter L. Knight, respectively. I was lucky to have been able to learn many of our “trade secrets” from these two highly skilled masters. Without them this book would not have been possible and I am forever grateful to them. I am also thankful to Han Woerdman, Moysés Nussenzveig, Amir Caldeira, Gerard Nienhuis, and Nicim Zagury, from whom I have learned many things.

Many of the ideas presented in this book have evolved through scientific collaborations. I am grateful to Peter L. Knight, Hector M. Moya-Cessa, Luiz Davidovich, Nicim Zagury, Amir O. Caldeira, Gerard Nienhuis, Antonio Vidiella-Barranco, Kyoko Furuya, José Roversi, Eric Eliel, Martin van Exter, Krista Joosten, Alexander van der Lee, Klaasjan van Druten, Dagoberto S. Freitas, Jorrit Visser, Marcelo Fraça, Luiz Guilherme Lutterbach, and Marcelo Roseneau. I would also like to thank all the students who attended my cavity QED lectures, but in particular, three who gave me a lot of feedback: Marcelo Terra-Cunha (here are the expanded lecture notes you have constantly asked me to finish), Alessandro Moura, and Daniel Jonathan. I have also profited from discussions with Paulo Nussenzveig, Brian Dalton, Gregory Surdotovich, Rodney Loudon, and Ottavia Jedrkiewicz. I am very grateful ...