Progress in Optics: A Tribute to Emil Wolf

Taco D. Visser is a Professor of Physics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He has published more than one hundred papers on various topics in optics, such as scattering, diffraction, waveguides, coherence theory, singular optics and surface plasmon polaritions. Next to his theoretical work he is also actively engaged in experiments in nano-optics.

"As its subtitle implies, this book - volume 65 in the Progress in Optics series—pays tribute to Emil Wolf, who passed away in 2018. The opening chapter is a poignant tribute from his son Bruno Wolf. This is followed by an intriguing contribution from Michael Berry describing Wolf’s early scientific life in Bristol, U.K. Arguably, however, the real tribute to Wolf’s legacy is the longevity of this remarkable book series. It is salutary that so many distinguished physicists offer their services to maintain the quality and breadth which is the hallmark of Progress in Optics, a series of books edited by Wolf himself. Thus, in this volume, Girish Agarwal and Anton Classen survey the continuing impact of Wolf’s work on partial coherence. The remaining six chapters allow contributors from Canada, China, Europe and the United States to offer thoughtful commentaries on a range of key topics including optical coherence, optical measurements and acousto-optic imaging. On the basis of this volume, one may confidently expect that the legacy of Emil Wolf will be sustained for many years to come." --The Optical Society Review

• 1. Memories of my fatherBruno Wolf2. Emil Wolf and BristolMichael.V. Berry3. Partial coherence in modern optics: Emil Wolf’s legacy in the 21st centuryGirish S. Agarwal and Anton Classen4. Applications of optical coherence theoryOlga Korotkova and Greg Gbur5. Optical coherence and electromagnetic surface wavesYahong Chen, Andreas Norrman, Sergey A. Ponomarenko and Ari T. Friberg6. Specular mirror interferometerFabio Di Pumpo, Alexander Friedrich, Enno Giese, Albert Roura, Hartmut Lemmel, Daniel M. Greenberger, Ernst M. Rasel and Wolfgang P. Schleich7. Maximum likelihood estimation in the context of an optical measurementAnthony Vella and Miguel A. Alonso8. Partially polarized light and complementarity in quantum mechanicsMayukh Lahiri9. Acousto-optic imaging in random mediaJohn C. Schotland