It is proposed to address fundamental theoretical questions about the generation of nonclassical optical fields, their interactions with matter, and methods for conceptualizing and giving mathematical description to their nonclassical properties. Here the electromagnetic field is viewed as an essentially statistical quantity. The hope is to achieve a better understanding of the conceptual and theoretical interface between the classical and quantum-mechanical worlds. Areas of work will include (1) intracavity atom-field interactions, (2) single-atom optical bi stability, (3) atomic interactions with nonclassical light, and (4) the theory of nonlinear quantum dissipative systems
