Spin-alignment noise in atomic vapor
A. A. Fomin, M. Yu. Petrov, G. G. Kozlov, M. M. Glazov, I. I. Ryzhov, M. V. Balabas, V. S. Zapasskii
Abstract
Two precessing spins that are parallel (`oriented') or antiparallel (`aligned') modulate the probe light beam at the precession or double-precession frequency, respectively. Stochastic modulation of light by a spin-system at Larmor frequency is the noise of spin orientation detected in conventional spin noise spectroscopy. Polarization modulation of the probe beam at the double Larmor frequency discovered by the authors in experiments with cesium atoms is ascribed to fluctuations of spin alignment. While the spin-orientation noise is revealed as the noise of gyrotropy, the spin-alignment noise is observed in the fluctuations of linear birefringence.