Resonant Processes of Scattering with Allowance for Different Populations of Magnetic Sublevels

The effect of different populations of the magnetic sublevels of the ground state on the propagation of polarized radiation through resonant media is studied theoretically. The nonlinear refractive indices for circularly and linearly polarized waves in media with arbitrary angular momenta j 1 and j 2 are found. The influence of the coherence between the magnetic sublevels on multiphoton effects is analyzed. It is shown that, as a result of elastic Rayleigh scattering, energy transfer from one component of the wave polarization to the other takes place. The picture of induced four-photon parametric scattering of a weak wave in the presence of a strong wave also changes.