Light quantization for arbitrary scattering systems

We present a quantum theory of light scattering for the analysis of the quantum statistical and fluctuation properties of light scattered or emitted by micrometric and nanometric three-dimensional structures of arbitrary shape. We obtain general three-dimensional quantum-optical input-output relations providing the output photon operators in terms of the input photon operators and of the noise currents of the scattering system. These relations hold also for photon operators associated with evanescent fields, for anisotropic scattering systems and/or for media with a nonlocal susceptibility. We find that the commutation relations of the output photon operators, carrying all the information on the scattering and/or the emission process, result to be fixed by energy conservation and reciprocity. We prove that this quantization scheme is consistent with QED commutation rules by using a novel relationship between vacuum and thermal fluctuations. This theoretical framework has been applied to analyze the spectral density of light close to a point scatterer under different nonequilibrium conditions.