The classical limit of quantum optics: not what it seems at first sight

Abstract

What is light and how to describe it has always been a central subject in physics. As our understanding has increased, so have our theories changed: Geometrical optics, wave optics and quantum optics are increasingly sophisticated descriptions, each referring to a larger class of phenomena than its predecessor. But how exactly are these theories related? How and when wave optics reduces to geometric optics is a rather simple problem. Similarly, how quantum optics reduces to wave optics has been considered to be a very simple business as well. It's not so. As we show here the classical limit of quantum optics is a far more complicated issue; it is in fact dramatically more involved and it requires a complete revision of all our intuitions. The revised intuitions can then serve as a guide to finding novel quantum effects.

4 pages, 2 figures