After expressing a driven Quantum Hamiltonian in a suitable interaction or rotating frame, discard terms oscillating rapidly compared with the retained dynamics. Near a selected transition, this leaves resonant terms that accumulate coherently while counter-rotating terms average out to leading order. The drive strength and detuning must be small relative to the discarded oscillation frequencies over the intended regime; strong driving can require the neglected frequency shifts and corrections. The approximation supports resonant quantum control, but it is not exact merely because the carrier is tuned to resonance.
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The Rotating Wave Approximation (RWA) is a mathematical simplification used in quantum mechanics and quantum optics when dealing with certain types of interactions, particularly those involving oscillatory fields (such as electromagnetic fields) and quantum systems (like two-level atoms). The RWA is particularly useful in the study of systems under the influence of external coherent fields (e.g., laser light).