Committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences

The Committee on Atomic, Molecular and Optical Sciences (CAMOS) is a standing activity of the BPA. The committee’s membership covers the full breadth of the atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) sciences and forms a multidisciplinary group with experts from universities, industry, and government laboratories.

After a period of dormancy during the writing of the AMO 2010 volume of the next Physics 2010 Decadal Survey Controlling the Quantum World, CAMOS has been reestablished with the following objectives:

• To provide active stewardship of the agenda laid out in Controlling the Quantum World;
• To provide a means for dialog with federal agencies on AMO science and related fields;
• To initiate case studies on important timely topics in AMO science and/or its multidisciplinary connections with other fields of science and technology.
• To provide a venue for discussion among AMO scientists and thereby provide a unifying force in this diverse and varied field.

Several mechanisms have been developed to achieve these objectives. CAMOS periodically proposes and oversees special technical studies, science surveys, workshops, and other meetings. It provides oversight for study panels that are formed to prepare reports on specific scientific or policy issues. From time to time it holds symposia to focus attention on facilities, programs, or other matters of concern to the AMO science community. From its position within the NRC’s Board on Physics and Astronomy, CAMOS also generally monitors advances in the physical sciences, technology, and engineering in order to identify important synergies with traditional AMO activities.

Project Information

• Upcoming Meetings
• Past Meetings
• Committee Members and NRC Staff
• Current Activities
• Past Report-writing Activities
• Sponsors

Upcoming Meetings

Past Meetings

Committee Members and NRC Staff

Stephen Pratt, Chair, Argonne National Laboratory
Ray Beausoleil, HP Laboratories
Charles Conover, Colby College
Steven Cundiff, JILA
Todd Ditmire, The University of Texas
Marshall Jones, GE Global Research
Nergis Mavalvala, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Christopher Monroe, University of Maryland
David R. Schultz, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Tamar Seideman, Northwestern University
Carol E. Tanner, University of Notre Dame
Ronald Walsworth, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
David Weiss, Pennsylvania State University

NRC Staff

Donald C. Shapero, Board Director
James Lancaster, Program Officer
Teri Thorowgood, Administrative Coordinator

Current Activities

To follow up the 2006 report, Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons, the committee is holding focus sessions on science highlights in the field and producing one-page handouts, which will be made available here as they are produced.  Current handouts include:

• Precision Measurements, focus session held at the October 2010 meeting
• Extreme Light, focus session held at the April 2011 meeting
• Nanoscale Science, focus session held at the October 2011 meeting

Past Report-writing Activities

Since its foundation in 1970, CAMOS has originated numerous NRC studies, workshops, and other activities. Selected NRC reports include the following

• Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons (2006)
• Controlling the Quantum World of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons: An Interim Report (2005)
• Atoms, Molecules and Light - AMO Science Enabling the Future (2002)
• Database Needs for Modeling and Simulation of Plasma Processing (1996)
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Science: An Investment in the Future (1994)
• Physics through the 1990s: Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (1986)

To follow up the 1994 Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Science report, CAMOS prepared a series of one-page handouts on science highlights in the field. Topics addressed include:

• Using Light to Cool, Confine, and Position Atoms
• Carbon Fullerenes
• Atomic Clocks

Support

The Committee is pleased to acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.