Abstract

An atom laser is a hypothetical device that would produce an atomic field analogous to the electromagnetic field of a photon laser, Here I argue that for this analogy to be meaningful it is necessary to have a precise definition of a laser that applies equally to photon or atom lasers. The definition I propose is based on the principle that the output of a laser is well-approximated by a classical wave of fixed intensity and phase.

© 1997 Optical Society of America