Physics of Nonlinear Optics

He (State U. of New York-Buffalo) and Liu (South China Normal U.) describe various effects and phenomena related to the interaction of intense coherent light with matter. For each topic they include conceptual discussions and explanations of mechanisms, rigorous and concise mathematical formulations, typical experimental behavior and techniques, and recent research findings and applications. Among those topics are second-order and third-order nonlinear wave mixing, photorefractive effects, optical phase-conjugation, and optical bistability. Eight pages of color photographs illustrate some of the effects. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)