Physica Scripta
Role of trap states in forward scattering of resonance light
Bogdan Lobodzinski, Wojciech Gawlik
Abstract
Forward scattering of laser light by atoms in a magnetic field is analyzed nonperturbatively within a standard | F , m > and the coupled-uncoupled (trap) state representations along the lines of recent theory of forward scattering [B. Lobodzinski and W. Gawlik, Phys. Rev. A54 , 2238 (1996)]. It is shown that the main features of the forward scattering signals can be associated with the number of trap states and their evolution in a magnetic field. In particular, when two traps are possible, as a result of the competition between them, not all light-induced multipole moments affect the scattering signal.