Abstract

The polarization matrix is calculated for the far field of the fluorescence produced by a two-level atom excited by coherent light. The fluorescence is always polarized in a polarized applied field and has linear or elliptic polarization according to whether the atomic transition is of Δm = 0 or Δm = ±1 type. In a partially polarized applied field, the fluorescence is also partially polarized but with a different degree of polarization in general.

© 1981 Optical Society of America

Does a photodetector always measure the rate of arrival of photons?

J. Durnin, C. Reece, and L. Mandel
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 71(1) 115-117 (1981)

Multiple scatter of collimated irradiance

W. H. Wells, J. Harris, and H. C. Lin
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 71(3) 243-249 (1981)

Transition probability of the 5971-Å line in neutral uranium from collision-induced fluorescence spectroscopy

J. M. Gagné, B. Mongeau, Y. Demers, and P. Pianarosa
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 71(9) 1140-1141 (1981)

Resolving power of time-reversed wave-front imaging devices

J. Hubbard
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 71(8) 1029-1032 (1981)

Polarization and angle dependence for hyper-Rayleigh scattering from local and nonlocal modes of isotropic fluids

David P. Shelton
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 17(12) 2032-2036 (2000)