Effects of Zeeman degeneracy on the steady-state properties of an atom interacting with a near-resonant laser field: Probe spectra

The probe spectrum of a closed two-level Zeeman-degenerate atom interacting with a linearly polarized coherent laser field is studied. Results for the cycling transition of a cesium atom are presented and compared to the experimental data of Lounis et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 3029 (1992)]. We further show that the resonance derived by Grynberg, Vallet, and Pinard [Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 701 (1990)] is due to stimulated Raman scattering.