Proceedings Of Photon Migration And Imaging In Random Media And Tissues

This volume presents a review of the research in several areas of modern optics written by experts well-known in the international scientific community. The first chapter discusses properties and methods of production and detection of coherent superpositions of macroscopically distinguishable states of light (the so-called Schrodinger cat states). Chapter two deals with the phase-shift method, which originated in the 1930s, for the analysis of potential-scattering problems in atomic and nuclear physics. Recently this approach has been applied to wave propagation in one-dimensional inhomogeneous media. Chapter three is concerned with the statistical properties of dynamic laser speckles that arise from scattering objects with rough surfaces undergoing translation and rotation. A moving phase-screen model is employed, which gives a relatively simple formulation of the theory and a clear picture of the time-varying speckle phenomenon. The fourth chapter presents a review of the more important theoretical and experimental results relating to optics of multilayer systems with randomly rough boundaries. The significant theoretical approaches which make it possible to interpret experimental data involving such systems are described, and relevant methods for optical characterization of systems of this kind are outlined. The last chapter presents an account of a theory of the photon transport through turbid media.

Photonic band gap crystals offer unique ways to tailor light and the propagation of electromagnetic waves. In analogy to electrons in a crystal, EM waves propagating in a structure with a periodically-modulated dielectric constant are organized into photonic bands separated by gaps in which propagating states are forbidden. Proposed applications of such photonic band gap crystals, operating at frequencies from microwave to optical, include zero- threshold lasers, low-loss resonators and cavities, and efficient microwave antennas. Spontaneous emission is suppressed for photons in the photonic band gap, offering novel approaches to manipulating the EM field and creating high-efficiency light-emitting structures. Photonic Band Gap Materials identifies three most promising areas of research. The first is materials fabrication, involving the creation of high quality, low loss, periodic dielectric structures. The smallest photonic crystals yet fabricated have been made by machining Si wafers along (110), and some have lattice constants as small as 500 microns. The second area is in applications. Possible applications presented are microwave mirrors, directional antennas, resonators (especially in the 2 GHz region), filters, waveguides, Y splitters, and resonant microcavities. The third area covers fundamentally new physical phenomena in condensed matter physics and quantum optics. An excellent review of recent development, covering theoretical, experimental and applied aspects. Interesting and stimulating reading for active researchers, as well as a useful reference for non-specialists.

The International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT, www. isott. info) is an interdisciplinary society comprising about 250 members worldwide. Its purpose is to further the understanding of all aspects of the processes involved in the transport of oxygen from the air to its ultimate consumption in the cells of the various organs of the body. The annual meeting brings together scientists, engineers, clinicians and mathematicians in a unique int- national forum for the exchange of information and knowledge, the updating of participants on latest developments and techniques, and the discussion of controversial issues within the field of oxygen transport to tissue. Founded in 1973, the society has been the leading platform for the presentation of many of the technological and conceptual developments within the field both at the meetings themselves and in the proceedings of the society. These have been published first by Plenum Publishing (1973), then by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers and presently by Springer Publishing, all in the Advances In Expe- mental Medicine and Biology Series. The 36th Annual ISOTT conference was held in Sapporo, Japan during August 3–7, 2008. It was the second occasion that the ISOTT meeting was held in Japan; the first one was held in the same place in 1987 organized by Professor Masaji Mochizuki.