SIMPLEST ATOMIC SYSTEMS IN RESONANT LASER FIELDS

The interaction of simplest, two- and three-level atomic systems with mono- and nonmonochromatic laser radiation near resonant transitions i s discussed nonperturbatively based on the Schrodinger equation with r adiation attenuation and no collisional relaxation. The mathematical s chemes employed include the resonant approximation, exact methods, the quasi-energy method, adiabatic approximation, etc. A large number of physical phenomena, such as oscillating and inverted population, self- induced resonances, processes of first order in the field, Raman scatt ering, coherent population transfer, etc, are considered The review is intended for a broad readership.