Current Topics in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Invited Lectures Delivered at the Conference on Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics (TC 2005), 13th-15th December, 2005, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, India

The breadth, scope and volume of research in atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics have increased enormously in the last few years. Following the widespread use of pulsed lasers, certain newly emerging areas as well as selected mature subfields are ushering in a second renaissance.This volume focuses on current research in these crucial areas: cold atoms and Bose-Einstein condensates, quantum information and quantum computation, and new techniques for investigating collisions and structure. The topics covered include: the multireference coupled cluster method in quantum chemistry and the role of electronic correlation in nanosystems; laser cooling of atoms and theories of the Bose-Einstein condensate; and quantum computing and quantum information transfer using cold atoms and shaped ultrafast pulses. Other articles deal with recent findings in heavy ion collisions with clusters, time-of-flight spectroscopy techniques, and a specific example of a chaotic quantum system.The contributions will greatly assist in the sharing of specialized knowledge among experts and will also be useful for postgraduate students striving to obtain an overall picture of the current research status in the areas covered.