https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2004-00112-5
Isotropic quantum beats
I. Pulsed pump-probe detection
1
Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Center, Department of Physics,
106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
2
Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences,
194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
Corresponding author: a tony.hansson@physto.se
Received:
19
April
2004
Revised:
23
June
2004
Published online:
31
August
2004
Previous theoretical work reviewed in [E.B. Alexandrov et al. Interference of atomic states (Springer, 1993)] has questioned the existence of isotropic quantum beats in atoms. The present work addresses this issue in dedicated experiments involving a pulsed pump-probe detection scheme. The thus obtained results show clear evidence of isotropic quantum beats for which a physical interpretation is given within the coupled-uncoupled state formalism. We suggest that assumptions made in the earlier theoretical work with respect to the structure of the light field make the predictions applicable to scattering only of single photons by atoms and not to scattering of the classical-like light pulses used in ordinary experiments.
PACS: 42.50.Ct – Quantum description of interaction of light and matter; related experiments / 42.50.Md – Optical transient phenomena: quantum beats, photon echo, free-induction decay, dephasings and revivals, optical nutation, and self-induced transparency
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2004
