Prof. H. Jeff Kimble, California Institute of Technology

"Quantum Optics, What Next?"

Abstract: Quantum Optics is a multidisciplinary field that spans from fundamental physics to quantum information science and that includes applications in computation, communication, metrology.

In the coming decade, the influence of Quantum Optics will continue to expand into new areas of fundamental science, as well as being central to an emerging revolution in quantum technologies.

The Optical Equivalence Theorem of Professor E. C. G. Sudarshan has been a critical, guiding light in these quests, of which I will give an overview.

H. Jeff Kimble is the William L. Valentine Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology, and founding Director of the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter.

He completed his doctoral degree in 1977 at the University of Rochester in the group of Professor Leonard Mandel. He then spent two years as a staff scientist at the General Motors Research Laboratories.

In 1979, he joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, where he held the Sid Richardson Regents’ Chair of Physics before moving to Caltech in 1989.

Professor Kimble is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the Optical Society of America, and is a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

The general areas of his research are quantum information science and the quantum dynamics of open systems, including quantum measurement, cavity quantum electrodynamics, the integration of cold atoms and nano-photonics, and the realization of quantum networks.

Dr. E. C. George Sudarshan (1931-2018), late Professor Emeritus at UT Austin, was a world-renowned scientist who received international acclaim for his seminal work in many areas of physics. Sudarshan’s discovery of the V-A theory of Weak Interactions in Elementary Particle Physics and the Optical Equivalence Theorem in Quantum Optics are widely recognized as extremely important contributions to science. He also made seminal contributions in the areas of Open Systems, Symmetries in Particle Physics, Special Theory of Relativity and Quantum Theory of Measurement.

In recognition of these accomplishments, Sudarshan was the recipient of many honors and awards, including the first TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences) prize awarded in physics, the Dirac medal by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, and the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award from the Government of India.

George Sudarshan was also a dedicated teacher who trained over forty graduate students. He had multiple international collaborations, several honorary degrees and published about four hundred papers and ten books. Outside of Physics, Sudarshan was also deeply interested in Indian Philosophy.

The family of Professor George Sudarshan has established the George Sudarshan Endowed Excellence Fund in Physics in memory of Dr. Sudarshan’s journey as a physicist and his dedication to teaching and mentoring students at the UT Austin. For those who would like to honor Dr. Sudarshan’s memory, we are raising funds to increase the value of the endowment to $100,000, creating the George Sudarshan Graduate Fellowship. Gifts can be made online at txsci.net/sudarshanfund