The D$_1$ enigma and its physical origin

Abstract

The D$_1$ enigma is an anomaly, which was first observed on the Sun as a symmetric polarization peak centered in the core of the sodium D$_1$ line that is expected to be intrinsically unpolarizable. To resolve this problem the underlying physics was later explored in the laboratory for D$_1$ scattering at potassium vapor. The experiment showed that the scattering phase matrix element $P_{21}$ is positive while $P_{22}$ is negative, although standard quantum scattering theory predicts that both should be zero. This experimental contradiction is currently the main manifestation of the D$_1$ enigma. Subsequent theoretical studies showed that such polarization effects may arise if scattering theory is extended to allow for interference effects due to level splittings of the ground state, in contrast to standard scattering theory, which only allows for interferences from level splittings of the intermediate state. Previous attempts to implement this idea had to rely on heuristic arguments to allow modeling of the experimental data. In the present paper we develop a formulation of the theory that can be self-consistently applied to quantum systems with any combination of electronic and nuclear spins. No statistical equilibrium or optical pumping is needed. The atom is assumed to be unpolarized at the beginning of each scattering event. The theory is capable of explaining both the phase matrix behavior of the laboratory data and the existence of a symmetric polarization peak in the core of the solar D$_1$ line. We also use it to predict the polarization structures that we expect to see in a next-generation laboratory experiment with the rubidium isotopes $^{87}$Rb and $^{85}$Rb.