Optical transition and momentum transfer in atomic wave packets

Abstract

It is shown that the population Rabi oscillations in a lossless two-level atom, interacting with a monochromatic electromagnetic field, in general, are convergent in time. The well-known continuous oscillations take place because the restricted choosing of initial conditions, that is, when the atom is chosen on ground or excited level before the interaction, simultaneously having a definite value of momentum there. The convergence of Rabi oscillations in atomic wave-packet states is a direct consequence of the Doppler effect on optical transition rates (Rabi frequencies): it gradually leads to ``irregular'' chaotic-type distributions of momentum in ground and excited energy levels, smearing the amplitudes of Rabi oscillations. Conjointly with Rabi oscillations, the coherent accumulation of momentum on each internal energy level monotonically diminishes too.