This book presents emerging contemporary optical techniques of ultrafast science which have opened entirely new vistas for probing biological entities and processes. The spectrum reaches from time-resolved imaging and multiphoton microscopy to cancer therapy and studies of DNA damage. The book displays interdisciplinary research at the interface of physics and biology. Emerging topics on the horizon are also discussed, like the use of squeezed light, frequency combs and terahertz imaging as the possibility of mimicking biological systems. The book is written in a manner to make it readily accessible to researchers, postgraduate biologists, chemists, engineers, and physicists and students of optics, biomedical optics, photonics and biotechnology. 

Deepak Mathur is Distinguished Professor at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,Mumbai. His research interests encompass ultrafast, high-intensity laser science, and diverse topics in the atomic, molecular and optical sciences, and in biological physics. Amongst his recognitions are the Fellowship of TWAS (the World Academy of Science), the Indian National Science Academy, and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded the Government of Indias S. S. Bhatnagar Prize, the J. C. Bose National Fellowship, the European Unions Erasmus-Mundus Scholarship in Optical Science and Technology, the RoyalSocietys Guest Research Fellowship, the Association of Commonwealth Universities Fulton Fellowship, and various named Lectureships. He has been co-Editor of EPL (Europhysics Letters) and member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Physics B and Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. Parinda Vasa is currently an Associate Professor in the Physics Department of theIndian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai. Her research interests include experimen-tal studies of ultrafast phenomena, nano-optics and plasmonics. Amongst her awards andrecognitions include membership of the Indian National Young Academy of Science, theHumboldt Fellowship, the Schlumberger Foundations Faculty for the future award, theEuropean Unions Heritage Fellowship, the Government of Indias SERB Women ExcellenceAward and Indian National Science Academy Medal for Young Scientist.

Introduction and overview.- Introduction to ultrafast and intense Fields.- Multiphoton microscopy and imaging techniques, including THz imaging.- Intense fields I.- Intense fields II.- Dynamical studies.- Mimicking biological systems: light harvesting without chlorophyll.- Biological interactions and energy landscapes: theoretical frameworks.- Outlook.