Can I read Physics of Polarized Scattering at Multi-level Atomic Systems on EtoBox?

Physics of Polarized Scattering at Multi-level Atomic Systems by Stenflo, Jan is a scholarly article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Physics of Polarized Scattering at Multi-level Atomic Systems about?

The symmetric peak observed in linear polarization in the core of the solar sodium D$_1$ line at 5896 \AA\ has remained enigmatic since its discovery nearly two decades ago. One reason is that the theory of polarized scattering has not been experimentally tested for multi-level atomic systems in the relevant parameter domains, although the theory is continually being used for the interpretation of astrophysical observations. A laboratory experiment that was set up a decade ago to find out whether the D$_1$ enigma is a problem of solar physics or quantum physics revealed that the D$_1$ system has a rich polarization structure in situations where standard scattering theory predicts zero polarization, even when optical pumping of the $m$ state populations of the hyperfine-split ground state is accounted for. Here we show that the laboratory results can be modeled in great quantitative detail if the theory is extended to include the coherences in both the initial and final states of the scattering process. Radiative couplings between the allowed dipole transitions generate coherences in the initial state. Corresponding coherences in the final state are then demanded by a phase closure

Author

Stenflo, Jan

Published

2015

Language

EN