The role of correlations in quantum optics and atom optics

Summary form only given. The modern development of quantum optics began with the realization that the coherence properties and most of the statistical properties of light are determined by a succession of correlation functions for the quantized electromagnetic field. Many of the cold-atom experiments of the past decade that are part of the foundation of the new field of atom optics have close optical analogues, and many of the same concepts of statistical correlation, borrowed from quantum optics, take on new meaning in discussing the behavior of matter fields. The analogies carry over to the discussion of fermionic atoms as well as bosonic atoms.