MONTE-CARLO WAVE-FUNCTIONS IN QUANTUM OPTICS

In this paper we present a review of the Monte Carlo wavefunction meth od. We discuss some aspects of its application in numerical simulation s, and we comment on some of its relations to the foundations of quant um physics. Finally, we investigate the generalization to problems tha t have-so far not been considered tractable by this method-in particul ar, nonlinear master equations may become relevant, and we discuss the application of Monte Carlo wavefunctions to such problems.