Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics (AMO) is the study of matter-matter and light-matter interactions; at the scale of one or a few atoms and energy scales around several electron volts. The three areas are closely interrelated. AMO theory includes classical, semi-classical and quantum treatments. Typically, the theory and applications of emission, absorption, scattering of electromagnetic radiation (light) from excited atoms and molecules, analysis of spectroscopy, generation of lasers and masers, and the optical properties of matter in general, fall into these categories. Atomic physics is the subfield of AMO that studies atoms as an isolated
Branches of physics This theory is currently under developmental stage. Optics is the study of light, and the instruments created to use or detect it (i.e. telescopes, spectrometers, etc.). Atomic physics, molecular physics, and optical physics are each individual sub-fields of AMO that study the physical properties of the atom, molecules, and light, respectively. The study of the physical properties of matter in a condensed phase. Particle physics studies the nature of particles, while nuclear physics studies the atomic nuclei. Cosmology studies how the universe came to be, and its eventual fate. It is studied by physicists and astrophysicists. To the interdisciplinary fields,