Electromagnetically induced transparency in degenerate two-level systems

The evolution of an electromagnetic wave with slowly varying polarization, which interacts resonantly with the medium formed by degenerate two-level atoms, is studied using the wave function approach under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. It is shown that the amplitude of the wave field propagates at the velocity of light in such a medium. The equation obtained for the polarization parameter has a solution in the form of a simple wave. The breaking length is determined. It is shown that the velocity of propagation of polarization waves may be much smaller than the velocity of light. The proposed approach is common for two-level systems with an arbitrary degeneracy. The case of a system with Zeeman degeneracy is analyzed in detail. The dependence of the velocity of propagation of the polarization structure on the amplitude and polarization is determined for an arbitrary level degeneracy. The evolution of the polarization structure in such a medium is discussed.