The Influence of Level Degeneracy on the Self-Induced Transparency Effect

Abstract

Self-induced transparency effects are examined in an absorbing medium having degenerate optical transitions. Undistorted propagating light pulses exist under restrictive conditions for $j\ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons}j$ transitions ($j>0$) and for 0 \ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons} 1 and $\frac{1}{2}\ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons}\frac{3}{2}$. Pulses which propagate without energy loss for any transition ${j\ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons}j}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ also include zero-degree pulses defined as $\ensuremath{\int}\mathcal{E}(z,t)dt=0$.