FARADAY-EFFECT AS A PROBE OF HINDERED ELECTRONIC PRECESSION IN ATOMS

We compare the Faraday spectrum with the dispersion spectrum near the D2 line of Rb atoms immersed in a high density Xe buffer gas. We obser ve deviations from the standard Becquerel relation, which relates the Faraday effect of an atomic gas to its dispersion. The deviations are due to coupling of the Rb valence electron to the Xe environment. The Rb D2 transition dipole moment becomes rotationally locked to the inst antaneous collision axes at Xe densities of approximately 10(20) cm-3.