This book gives a theoretical description of linear and nonlinear optical responses of matter with special emphasis on the microscopic and 'nonlocal' nature of resonant response. It will have a tremendous influence on modern device techniques, as it deals with frontier research in response theory.

This book deals with a recently developed theoretical method for calculating the optical response of nanoscale or mesoscopic matter. There has been much interest in this type of matter system because it brings out a new feature of solid state physics, viz., the central importance of the quantum mechanical coherence of matter in its transport and optical properties, in contrast to bulk systems. The author has been interested in the optical properies of mesoscopic matter since the mid-1980s, seeking to construct a new theoretical framework beyond the traditional macroscopic optical response...