The Livermore experience: Contributions of J. H. Eberly to laser excitation theory

This article summarizes the developing understanding of coherent atomic excitation, as gained through a collaboration of J. H. Eberly with the Laser Isotope Separation Program of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, particularly aspects of coherence, population trapping, multilevel multiphoton excitation sequences, analytic solutions to multistate excitation chains, the quasicontinuum, pulse propagation, and noise. In addition to the discovery of several curious and unexpected properties of coherent excitation, mentioned here, the collaboration provided an excellent example of unexpected benefits from investment into basic research.