Angular momentum alignment-to-orientation conversion in the ground state of Rb atoms at room temperature

We investigated experimentally and theoretically angular momentum alignment-to-orientation conversion created by the joint interaction of laser radiation and an external magnetic field with atomic rubidium at room temperature. In particular we were interested in alignment-to-orientation conversion in atomic ground state. Experimentally the laser frequency was fixed to the hyperfine transitions of $D_1$ line of rubidium. We used a theoretical model for signal simulations that takes into account all neighboring hyperfine levels, the mixing of magnetic sublevels in an external magnetic field, the coherence properties of the exciting laser radiation, and the Doppler effect. The experiments were…