Editorial

Abstract

Last year a special issue of Applied Physics B – Lasers and Optics featured selected papers presented at the Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society in the Quantum Optics Section. The present issue continues this newly established tradition highlighting the 1998 Spring Meeting held at the University of Konstanz. In particular, the articles reflect this year’s emphasis of the Quantum Optics Section on Cooling and Trapping, Bose–Einstein Condensation and Quantum Information. Clearly, a selection of articles cannot provide exhaustive coverage of the scientific program of a conference. Nevertheless, we hope that the issue conveys the flavor of the meeting. We take the opportunity to express our gratitude to the authors of the papers of this issue and the reviewers for their efforts in preparing and ensuring the high quality of the presentations.