Atomic, molecular and optical physics lies at the intersection of quantum mechanics and electromagnetic theory, providing the fundamental framework for our understanding of matter and light.

Almost exactly 200 years ago, French physicist Sadi Carnot determined the maximum efficiency of heat engines. The Carnot ...

For two centuries, students have learned that heat flows and engines work according to rigid limits that no machine can beat.

Photo: Niels Bohr's research notes for his new atomic theory Rutherford's find came from a very strange experience. Everyone at that time imagined the atom as a "plum pudding." That is, it was roughly ...

Photoionization, the process by which an incident photon ejects an electron from an atom, lies at the heart of many atomic physics studies. Coupled with cross section measurements – which quantify the ...

What happens when the smallest building blocks of matter refuse to play by the rules of traditional physics? For decades, atomic nuclei have posed a stubborn puzzle: at low energies, they appear as ...