Abstract:
Opposite traveling waves of circular polarization induce a dipole moment in gas atoms subjected to a longitudinal magnetic field. This moment is calculated without recourse to the perturbation method. The approximations made impose less stringent restrictions on the wave intensities than the weak-field approximation in which the perturbation method can be used. The expressions obtained are employed in an analysis of stimulated emission from a traveling-wave Zeeman laser well above the threshold, when the weak-field approximation is no longer valid. Analytic solutions of the laser equations for the wave intensities and Zeeman beat frequencies are obtained in the case of central tuning of a resonato.