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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
The Bose-Einstein condensation of atoms brought quantum phase transitions to everyday attention. Photon analogies with bosonic atoms then naturally followed; although phase transitions for photons are dissipative at a fundamental level. My talk addresses dissipative quantum phase transition for photons, working from background in the quantum theory of the laser, through some historical examples, to recent experiments and theoretical proposals. An appreciation of the role of quantum fluctuations and the lack of a fixed particle number (hence a clear thermodynamic limit) is a principal theme.
Host: Sebastian Deffner