Exploring the Quantum: Atoms, Cavities, and Photons Serge Haroche and Jean-Michel Raimond The counter-intuitive aspects of quantum physics have been long illustrated by thought experiments, from Einstein's photon box to Schrodinger's cat. These experiments have now become real, with single particles – electrons, atoms or photons – directly unveiling the strange features of the quantum. State superpositions, entanglement and complementarity define a novel quantum logic which can be harnessed for information processing, raising great hopes for applications. This book describes a class of such thought experiments made real. Juggling atoms and photons confined in cavities, ions or cold atoms in traps, is here an incentive to shed a new light on the basic concepts of quantum physics. Measurement processes and decoherence at the quantum-classical boundary are highlighted. This volume, which combines theory and experiments, will be of interest to students in quantum physics, teachers seeking illustrations for their lectures and new problems sets, researchers in quantum optics and quantum information. Serge Haroche is a Professor at the College de France. Jean-Michel Raimond is a Professor at Universite Pierre et Marie Curie and Institut Universitaire de France.