Transitions in presence of short laser pulses

Abstract

Accurate numerical calculations are carried out to investigate the validity of the two-state approximation in the case of resonant interactions between electromagnetic radiation and atoms . Short pulses are considered and the presence of the atomic spectrum is modelled by introducing a third, nonresonant, state . We show that the harmonics of the pulse profile may play a significant role in the dynamics of the process and may cause energy nonconserving transitions between the atomic states. © 1990 Taylor & Francis Ltd.