Coherent two-field spectroscopy of degenerate two-level systems

Spectroscopic features revealing the coherent interaction of a degenerate two-level atomic system with two optical fields are examined. A model for the numerical calculation of the response of a degenerate two-level system to the action of an arbitrarily intense resonant pump field and a weak probe in the presence of a magnetic field is presented. The model is valid for arbitrary values of the total angular momentum of the lower and upper levels and for any choice of the polarizations of the optical waves. Closed and open degenerate two-level systems are considered. Predictions for probe absorption and dispersion, field generation by four-wave mixing, population modulation, and Zeeman optical pumping are derived. On all these observables, subnatural-width coherence resonances are predicted and their spectroscopic features are discussed. Experimental spectra for probe absorption and excited-state population modulation in the D₂ line of Rb vapor are presented in good agreement with the calculations.