Multiple scattering of photons by atomic hyperfine multiplets

Journal Article · Tue Nov 15 04:00:00 EST 2005 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.72.0· OSTI ID:20786534

Mueller, Cord A ^[1]; Miniatura, Christian; Wilkowski, David; Kaiser, Robin ^[2]; Delande, Dominique ^[3]

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1. Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth (Germany)
2. Institut Non Lineaire de Nice Sophia Antipolis, UMR 6618 du CNRS, 1361 route des Lucioles, F-06560 Valbonne (France)
3. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, F-75005 Paris (France)

Mesoscopic interference effects in multiple scattering of photons depend crucially on the internal structure of the scatterers. In the present paper, we develop the analytical theory of multiple photon scattering by cold atoms with arbitrary internal hyperfine multiplets. For a specific application, we calculate the enhancement factor of elastic coherent backscattering as a function of detuning from an entire hyperfine multiplet of neighboring resonances that cannot be considered isolated. Our theory permits one to understand why atoms behave differently from classical Rayleigh point-dipole scatterers, and how the classical description is recovered for larger but still microscopic objects like molecules or clusters.

• OSTI ID: 20786534
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 72; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
BACKSCATTERING
DIPOLES
HYPERFINE STRUCTURE
INTERFERENCE
MOLECULES
MULTI-PHOTON PROCESSES
MULTIPLE SCATTERING
MULTIPLETS
PHOTONS
RAYLEIGH SCATTERING
RESONANCE